Old and New (An A:tLA Fanfic)
by Politicians Aren't Soldiers
Summary: In the year 2056 the third World War has just begun. An American soldier, Specialist Andrew Thompson has been sent to the Russian theater in Siberia to fight both Guerrillas and the main Russian Army. Something goes wrong during a mission and he finds himself in the south pole of a totally different world. (((((This story is basically dead)))))
1. Capture, Chase, and Escape

_**A/N: **__**Look, I'm just gonna come right out and dump all of my thoughts on this story into this Author's Note. **_

_**Even though I'm an inexperienced writer with room to improve, I absolutely hate my writing. This Fic probably won't get any new chapters, so its basically been discontinued until I decide my writing isnt absolute dogsh*t, and then I might continue it. I'm also not going to update this fic's completion status because in my eyes, it isnt complete unless I reach the very end of the original storyline (which i very obviously haven't). The main reason I think my writing is horrible is because I've focused too much on dialogue, and the whole 'this is what my world is like compaired to yours'/'I know how the world works'/'look at my technology' type of stuff (I had too many ideas for what I wanted to do in later chapters that I kinda half-assed the ones before it). I've also tried to rewrite this story for the last 4 or so months, and I can't seem to get it to where i think it's good enough for an audience's enjoyment(I think I've progressed too far to make any drastic changes to the story). S**__**o, I'm sorry to all of those who took an interest in this story, but I'm trying to improve on my writing by starting a new story in private (that I'm not going to publish unless I think my writing skills have improved enough.) **_

_**This story was originally planned to be published when I completed the entire story, but I was too eager to hear an outside opinion from strangers and ways to improve my writing (which I never really got... except from one person: 'AlfaVictor' who I found to have left an extremely insightful review. I'M ENCOURAGING YOU TO WRITE THAT FIC YOU WERE CONSIDERING) a**__**nd then there was a lot of extra stuff that interfered with my writing (family issues, emotional issues, coronavirus lockdowns/quarantines, getting a job, then all of this confusing B.L.M. stuff, and then school started up again).**_

_**-Politicians Aren't Soldiers**_

_**September 19th, 2020**_

* * *

.

* * *

Andrew sat looking at the frozen tundra he was stationed in through the plastic window in the side of the barracks tent. He knew he shouldn't think about home, but he often found his mind drifting back to his time on his family's farm.

"Thompson!" A voice shouted from across the tent.

Andrew turned, and rolled his eyes at the white clad boy standing before him. "What do you want Reyes? I don't have time for your games."

Standing a few paces away was Private Manuel Reyes, one of the few soldiers Andrew actually knew on a personal level. The pair shared a bunkbed during their time at the hastily put together Fort Westmoreland. Shortly after graduating infantry school, Andrew was given a promotion out of thin air. Asking around in person, and online gave no definitive answer as to why he was given the promotion. Privately, he didn't care if his comrades in arms used his, _at least in his eyes_, undeserved rank. Andrew made sure the handful of other soldiers he interacted with knew it was up to them if they wanted to use it when they were alone.

After being pulled back from the front lines, it was a small comfort to find out Reyes was stationed at the same base.

"Sergeant Lin said we're moving south in a few hours, so get your stuff together," Reyes said, walking over to his cot. "He wants us to search a small village a few clicks away."

Andrew watched Reyes pack his gear into a white rucksack before speaking, "When exactly do we move out?"

Reyes briefly glanced back at Andrew, before continuing to stuff things into his bag. "At 1430."

Andrew grabbed his ruck from its place beneath his cot, and started putting his gear in. "Are we marching or taking the JAASV?"

"Orders from General Jodie say we're going to march bare ass naked all the way there." Reyes said with an extremely sarcastic tone "Of course we're taking the JAASV!"

Andrew didn't say anything more and continued to pack his things.

* * *

"Alright listen up squad!" A voice shouted to the handful of soldiers standing around.

"Lieutenant Caprice has ordered us to search the village of Deskoyem, which is about seven klicks south of here. There has been some reports of Russian army, and guerrilla activity in the vicinity, and we've been ordered to search the village for weapons. Do any of you have questions before we move out?"

From what Andrew could gather from the two weeks he had been stationed at the Siberian base, searching small villages was a fairly uncommon job, even in areas extremely close to the front. This base's main job was to act as anti-guerrilla garrison who's main job was to patrol the surrounding areas to give the impression the U.S. had more troops to spare than it actually had.

PFC Pannette, a rather tall, freckle-faced ginger took a small step forward from the assembled group of soldiers. "Sargeant Lin, how many people are expected to be in the village?"

"The population of the village is estimated to be about 15-30 people," He said, putting his helmet on, "But there might be some of the enemy with them, so be on the lookout."

Andrew took a small step forward, before speaking to Sargeant Lin. "Sargeant Lin, what do we do if we find weapons among the villagers?"

Sergeant Lin stood there for a moment before responding, "You will confiscate them, and arrest the persons responsible. But, if it's an family heirloom, like an old hunting rifle or something similar, don't take it, it might start a fight or cause the village to turn on us."

For the assembled soldiers, it was a genuine fear that the villagers might take it upon themselves to kill the _Invaders. _Andrew couldn't blame any of the guerrilla fighters he had fought, he would've done the same for his country if their roles were reversed.

The men stood there, unmoving until Sergeant Lin spoke up, "Alright let's head out!"

The small group of soldiers marched over to the JAASV and boarded the transport vehicle, ready to get moving. Andrew was last in line, and had to sit closest to the door.

A few minutes after the team left base, the rest of the soldiers began a to talk amongst eachother. "I'd give anything to get out of this frozen hell, and go back to my home in Arizona," one said.

"Go back to a scorching hellhole? No thanks," Reyes said to the man sitting across from him, "I'd rather go back to warm and humid Louisiana, at least there I can get some good food, and not be baked to death in some rocky canyon, or frozen to death on patrol."

The soldier Reyes was speaking to: Private Nornam, rolled his eyes "You have no idea what good food tastes like Reyes, you scarf down MRE's like there's no tomorrow."

One aspect Andrew hated about Reyes was his appetite. When he wasn't eating MRE's, he was finding ways to steal food from others. Whether it be tricking them into handing it over, or just plain stealing, Reyes never went an hour without eating.

"If you eat 'em fast enough, you won't get any of the disgusting aftertastes stuck in your mouth. Why do you think I'm always eating them so fast?" He said plainly, a smirk plastered on the lower half of his face.

Nornam couldn't think of a reply, and sat back in his seat in defeat. Andrew watched the conversation along with the rest of the soldiers in the back, holding back a laugh. The moment was interrupted by a single tap on his right shoulder. Turning his head ninety degrees, he was face to face with PFC Bejamin, who looked back with a serious expression.

"Uh, S-Specialist Thompson..." Benjamin's single stutter gave away how truly nervous he seemed to be. "D-Do you think we are going to find any weapons?"

Reassurance was all Andrew could offer the other teen, so that's what he gave. "I dunno. We might find something, and we might not. it's definitely not going to be like in the movies where the '_new_' guys stumble upon a massive weapons cache, but we might find a handgun or two. I'm not the one you should be asking. Corporal Taylor, has stationed here for the last two months."

Benjamin looked to be relieved by Andrew's words, smiling back in return."Thanks for the reassurance. Thompson."

_It's better than nothing. _He thought, patting Benjamin on the shoulder. "Just make sure you're watching your back. We might find a pistol, but that doesn't make it any safer. A pistol can still kill somebod-" Andrew tried to explain, but was cut off by the sound of Sargeant Lin's voice.

"Alright men, we should be arriving in about a minute so get ready for a potential fight." The small speaker mounted above the door went silent as Lin finished.

_It's now or never_. Andrew thought to himself. Placing his helmet on his head, Andreq cleared his head for the potential fight.

The JAASV lurched forward as it slammed on the brakes. The door was opened, and the squad of soldiers spilled out into the icy wind. "Get moving to the closest two houses!" Sergeant Lin shouted.

The soldiers broke into two teams of five, and rushed to the nearest houses. Sergeant Lin, with Pvts. Benjamin, Harris, Makal, and PFC Vertalli rushed over to one of the buildings. Meanwhile Corporal Taylor, along with Cpl. Hayden, Pvt. Reyes, Pfc. Pannette, and Andrew.

Getting into a proper entry formation, Corporal Taylor slammed his closed fist onto the door.

"Open the door!" He shouted.

* * *

Two hours after the village wide search was over, the group had confiscated a bagful of weapons and two boxes of ammunition. The pair of villagers responsible, a man and a woman, were taken into custody on the grounds of supplying the local guerrillas with weapons.

After taking the pair into custody, Andrew and Nornam were given the task of bringing the prisoners back to the JAASV, while the rest of the group wrote a list of detailing the captured weapons.

"Do you think that these two are guerrillas, or just the people they trust to keep the contraband safe?" Nornam asked, leading the woman to the JAASV.

"They might be guerrillas, the only way to know for sure if they are is to bring them back to base where they can be questioned." Andrew explained.

The man Andrew was holding began to squirm in his restraints, making it difficult for Andrew to push him blond haired man turned to face his wife, and spoke in Russian to the woman; "**когда мы доберемся до их лагеря, не говорите с ними, иначе Дуков сожжет деревню."**

"**Как вы думаете, он достаточно близко, он может добраться до деревни, если мы остановим их?"** She replied back, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Stop talking," Andrew said, pushing the man along, "You can talk when we get to base, and only then."

Whatever the man had said to the woman caused her to snap. Writhing and screaming, the woman thrashed about, trying to get Nornam to release her bonds. "**Помогите! Помогите! Солдаты пытаются изнасиловать меня!"**

The volume of the shouting had increased, drawing Andrew's undivided attention to Nornam, who was trying desperately to hold her in place. "Hey! What's your problem?!" Nornam shouted back, placing a gloved hand over her mouth.

The screaming was muffled, but it did absolutely nothing to stop the women's struggling.

If the pair weren't restrained soon, there was a chance of escape, and Andrew was definitely not looking forward to being on Sargeant Lin's shitlist. "We should just get them into the JAASV, tie them down, and go back to Sergeant Lin to explain their behavior." Andrew told him.

Nornam didn't seem to hear Andrew's words, being completely focused on stopping the women's seemingly endless struggling against her plastic restraints.

The man began to squirm even more than the woman, before throwing his head back, hitting Andrew square in the nose. A jolt of pain shot through his face, causing him to let go of the man in order to comfort his nose, and the man bolted in the direction of a rather close forest.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Andrew shouted, taking off at a sprint in order to catch his charge.

* * *

They ran for several minutes, Andrew falling far behind the unweighted man until the runaway disappeared into the forest. When the escapee disappeared into the forest, Andrew picked up his speed and continued to run straight into it. Running in the general direction the man went for almost 45 minutes, before almost collapsing in the snow from exhaustion.

_Running through the snow with 20 pounds of armor, a bag of gear, and a rifle is fucking exhausting! _He thought, leaning on a tree.

He looked up at the sky, and was surprised to see it was getting dark, and even ... it was starting to snow.

"Fuck."

He looked at his digital watch and it read: 17:21.

_Goddammit. Not only do I have to get back before its pitch black, but I also have to tell Lin about the prisoner_. Andrew told himself.

He then sat down on a fallen tree, to take a breath.

He couldn't believe how fast his day had taken a turn for the worst. About five minutes of sitting down had given him the strength to walk back. By now, the snow had started to fall even faster, and the sky had gone from a light blue, to a dark blue-grey, almost dark black-blue. "Never invade Russia during the winter they said, did we lis-"

"Он здесь!" A voice called out.

A few gunshots rang out, and bullets impacted the snow around him. Andrew turned in the opposite direction the gunshots came from, and ran as fast as he could.

"Пристрели его!" A voice shouted far behind him.

Bullets continued to whizz past him while he ran in a slight zigzagging pattern. Andrew knew he couldn't run forever, so he decided to run as far as his legs could carry him, then he would turn and fight.

* * *

Andrew ran, and ran until the gunshots and bullet impacts couldn't be heard, then collapsed where he stood. His legs were on fire, and his arm felt wet.

He tried to inspect his arm, but found he was sitting in almost pitch black darkness. He couldn't check the wound with a flashlight in fear of giving away where he was, but he had a suspicion of what already happened to his arm. Feeling around with his gloved hands, he barely felt a rip in one side of his white parka, but not the other.

Andrew contemplated tryng to dig the bullet out now, but decided against it. He didnt need to agitate a wound he couldn't see any farther, so the bullet would stay inside his arm. To stop the bleeding, he packed a handful of snow into the wound.

Andrew had two choices: try and find his way back to the village where he would probably be captured and killed, or try and find his way back to base. Going back to the village was a death sentence because of the guerrillas, so he chose to head north in search of the base.

What brought Andrew out of his thoughts was the fact it was snowing harder, based on how wet his face had become in the darkness. _'I'm going to die if I dont find shelter_' He thought, trying to bury himself deeper in the snow.

Completely buried in the snow except for a hole he could breathe through, Andrew laid there silently. He was exhausted from trying to catch his prisoner, then trying to evade capture in knee deep snow while being shot at. _'I should have shot that bastard while he was running away if I knew how much trouble he would give me.'_ He told himself.

Exhaustion finally overcoming him, Andrew drifted off into sleep.

* * *

Gasping for air as he woke, Andrew sat up and found himself shoulder deep in snow. He was freezing cold, and only slightly wet thanks to his parka. Looking around himself, Andrew found the area that surrounded him completely white, the only exception being the sky, which was a mix of orange, pink, red, and yellow. "What the hell?" He said out loud. 'I couldn't have gone to far from the forest, so where are the trees?'

Unburying himself and standing to his full height, Andrew couldn't believe his luck. Not only had he evaded capture/possible death, but he hadn't died in his sleep from the cold. But, his luck had also reached his limit, he was still stuck in a frozen wasteland with only 3 MRE's.

_Speaking of MRE..._he thought, _No. I don't have time to sit down and eat, I have to get back to base._

He picked himself up and opened his rucksack. Rummaging through the bag, Andrew pulled out his compass. He opened the cover, looked at the needle, and began to walk in the direction of north. He wouldn't stop until he reached base or died of hypothermia.

**A/N: This is the first FF I've ever written, so give me some room when it comes to mistakes.**

* * *

_**A/N #2: After rereading the handful of chapters I've written so far, I've decided I wanted this story to go from a steaming pile of dogshit, to something I would actually call fanfiction. In other words, I'm making this half-assed story into something I would want to read in my free time by beefing it up a little. (Or, at least I hope so...)**_

_**By the way, I've hardly got any freetime on my hands now that I've got a job, and this story is my 6th/7th priority right now...**_

_**Rewrite date:7-8-2020**_


	2. Interaction

Two days of walking and sleeping in the freezing cold had taken a toll on Andrew. He was exhausted, his legs burned, his feet were numb, his hands could hardly hold on to anything, so he had slung his rifle over his shoulder, and stuffed his gloved hands into his pockets to warm them.

His right sleeve was almost completely stained red with blood. Andrew had stopped putting snow into the wound yesterday morning in case of getting frostbite, so his arm was slowly soaking his sleeve in blood.

One MRE was left out of the three he had at the start of his journey back, and he had already drank all of the water in his canteen. Andrew had collapsed twice today, both times, he laid in the thin layer of snow until he could muster the strength to continue on, even if he could only go a mile or two more at a time.

Andrew had virtually no hope left, and had almost cried when he saw a slight black square above the ground over the horizon. Walking as fast as he could, Andrew made his way in the direction of the black spot.

The closer, and closer he got, it seemed that the black dot was a battleship of some sort jutting out of the ice.  
When he was about a quater of a mile out, a large streak of red shot out of the tower, and rose into the air where it exploded.

"A...flare?" He asked himself.

Startled, he unslung his rifle, and headed towards the half-frozen ship at a faster pace.

He made it to the ship, and slowly climbed up the side of the stern to the deck. The whole thing was at least 100 years old, reminding him of the Ironclads that were used in the Civil War.

_How the hell did a 200 year old American ship get in the middle of Siberia? Better yet, how it is frozen in water if its surrounded by land for hundreds of miles?_ Andrew thought, raising his rifle at an open door.

Farther in the ship he could hear voices. "Let's just get out of here, and go back to the village."

_These people know english_? He asked himself, _A village? It must be nearby._

Andrew halfway lowered his rifle, and went in. "Who's in here? Come out and I won't shoot."

There was a gasp, and whispers that followed.

"I said come out! I know you understand what I'm saying!"

Silence

"If you aren't supporting the Russian army, or any guerrillas, you have nothing to fear." Andrew spoke through the doorway.

"Don't hurt us! We're coming out!" A high pitched voice yelled.

Two children, one of which, a girl, looked to be barely 16. The other, a bald boy who was the size of a 11 year old, followed behind the girl. They both came out with their hands at their sides, completely unarmed. Andrew lowered his rifle. "You two are just kids." Andrew spoke, astonished.

"You look like you're the same age as us." The girl retorted.

Andrew sighed, "Nevermind how old you are, how do you two know how to speak English?"

"'English'? What's that?" The blue clad girl asked.

"It's what we're speaking." Andrew replied.

"No we're not." She said.

"Oh, then by all means, tell me what we are speaking."

"We're speaking 'Common'." The boy answered.

"'Common'? I'm surprised Russian kids know enough english to call it 'common'."

"Russian?" The girl asked.

"Are you joking?" Andrew said with a chuckle.

"What is 'Russian'?" The two asked.

"You live in Siberia, yet you know english, and have no idea what language you are supposed to be speaking and you dont even know the name of the nation you live in?" Andrew asked, flabbergasted.

"No...?" The boy answered, confused.

"Do you know anyone else who speaks 'common'?" Andrew asked, hoping to speak with their parents about getting information and a way back to base.

"The entire world speaks common." The girl said, crossing her arms.

Andrew looked at her, both brows raised. Are these two retarded?'. "Then take me to wherever you two came from."

"N-" the girl began, but was cut off.

"Sure," The boy said, "Katara's village is in that direction." He pointed.

"Aang! You just gave our village's location to a potential Fire Nation spy!" 'Katara' shouted.

"What the hell is the Fire Nation?" Andrew asked her.

"Don't act like you dont know! You probably burn down villages for fun!" She said angrily.

"I may be in the military, but I dont go around committing war crimes!" Andrew said angrily.

"Aang run! He just admitted to being Fire Nation!" She shouted at 'Aang'.

Aang turned to run, but didn't make any other movements. "I don't know Katara, I've been to the Fire Nation. He doesn't even look like anyone I've seen from there. He's not even wearing red!"

Nobody spoke, and Andrew sighed. "I need help," he explained, "I was shot in the arm running away from guerrillas in the woods near Deskoyem."

The two looked at his arm, which had red staining the arm. "If you were shot, where is the arrow that hit you?" Asked Aang.

"Arrow? Kid, nobody have used arrows in over four-hundred years. We use guns." he said, holding up his M4, "they use bullets, not arrows."

"Bullets?" The two children asked.

"These," he said, pulling a 5.56 round out of one of the magazines strapped to his chest. "The very tip of this is the bullet, but the entire thing is a cartridge. This caliber of bullet is about 13 times faster than any arrow, and does way more damage."

The children looked uneasy. "Who 'shot' you?" The boy asked.

"Guerrillas who were chasing me. I haven't seen them in about three days. They gave up chasing me when it began to snow a few nights ago.

"Now that I've explained myself, can I get some medical attention?" Andrew asked, annoyed.

"I suppose...," the girl said, "follow me."

* * *

The village was rather small, and had a fairly large misshapen watchtower built into the wall, if it could even be called that. From a distance, you could tell there were people standing at the entrance, all wearing blue.

When the three of them approached the entrance, Andrew was shocked to see the crowd was made up of only women and children, the one 'man' present was a teenage boy who was probably about a year or two older than Andrew.

He stepped forward and pointed his club directly at Andrew. "Katara! Not only did you and the kid go to the Fire Navy warship, but you also set off a flare, and brought a fire nation soldier to the village!" He shouted, stepping closer to Andrew.

"It was an accident Sokka! We were leaving the ship, and all of a sudden, things started to move and before we knew it, a flare was in the sky!" She explained.

"Where did he come from?!" Sokka yelled, once again stepping closer to Andrew.

"He just showed up! One moment we were leaving the ship after the flare the next he was there thr-"

"I'll explain," Andrew interrupted, "I was running from people hell bent on killing me, and in the process i was injured. I headed north hoping to find my camp, and came across an iron ship. I was about to board it when a red flare shot out of the bridge roof. Investigating the ship, I found these two, and talked with them. They then brought me here to get help."

"I bet your a Fire Nation spy, trying to lie to us in order to bring the Fire Navy here to burn down our village!" Sokka shouted.

"How could I be a spy for a country I've never heard of?!" Andrew shouted back.

The assembled villagers backed up in fear, and Andrew stepped back.

"I'm sorry for shouting," He apologized, "but I just need medical help, and I will try and find help so I can leave."

An old woman stepped forward, "I can help. I may not trust you, but I won't refuse to help someone who needs it." She stated, pointing a gloved finger at Andrew's bottom sleeve.

Andrew looked down, and saw his arm was dripping blood into the snow. Looking back up, he smiled thankfully "Thank you."

The woman turned, and waved and arm for him to follow. Andrew did, and passed through the crowd into the village, with Aang, Katara, and Sokka, who was practically stepping on Andrew's heels.

The woman led him to the largest tent in the center of the village, and held the flap open for him to step inside. As soon as the two of them were inside, she closed the flap, only for it to be opened once more, with Sokka, Aang, and Katara stepping inside.

"Take off your things, and sit down on the  
elephant-seal skins." The woman commanded.

Andrew set down his rifle, took off his rucksack, his helmet, his IOTV, his apecs parka, his uniform, then his thermal undershirt, and sat down on the animal skins that covered the floor.

"What is your name?" She asked.

"Private Andrew Thompson." He replied almost robotically.

"How old are you Andrew?"

"...19 years old."

"Well Andrew...my name is Kanna," she said, rummaging around the tent for supplies.

When she found what she was looking for, Kanna kneeled down and grabbed his arm. "First I'm going to wash your arm, then I will see what I can do about what is lodged in your arm. Hold still."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

"I am finished getting the object in your arm out." Kanna informed him.

Andrew was so relieved he had almost cried tears of joy. The past thirty minutes had been excruciating because Kanna didnt have any anesthetics, so he had been wincing and grabbing his opposite forearm so hard there would be bruises later.

What made it even worse was the fact that the oldest one of the children, Sokka, had been grinning and holding back laughs from across the tent. He had almost considered getting up and punching him in the face on several occasions.

"Now that I am done, I want to know what this is." she said, holding the bullet in her hand.

"What you have in your hand is a bullet." Andrew explained.

"What is it used for?" She asked in a suspicious voice.

"...Killing things." He answered.

"...Then tell me why people were trying to kill you." She commanded.

Andrew didn't answer, and stayed silent.

"I won't bandage your arm if you don't explain the whole story."

Everyone in the tent, Sokka, Aang, and Katara had gotten closer to hear what Andrew was going to say.

"There is a war going on between Russia and the United States. I was sent along with the rest of my squad to northwestern Siberia. A few miles behind the front lines where actual fighting between American and Russian soldiers were fighting. A lot of guerrilla activity was reported, like ambushing American soldiers along roads, and killing anyone they came across.

"These guerrillas were helping the Russians, who started a war by sinking a group of battleships off the coast of Alaska. The battleships that were patrolling the north pole, were destroyed using submarines. I was sent to search a village called Deskoyem, for weapons like this," Andrew said, holding up his rifle, "These are meant for killing other people. They are way faster than any arrow, and do more damage against people.

A few days ago, we were ordered to confiscate any weapons found in the village."

"Well, we found a bunch of guns inside of a blanket hidden underneath a bed. Our orders were to arrest the people found with the weapons for espionage, then bring them back to base where they would be questioned, and afterward they would be sent to prison until the war was over. We arrested a man and a women who lived at the house, and brought them over to the transport vehicle.

We were going to take them back to our base a few miles to the north of the village. But before we got to the transport vehicle, the two prisoners started to talk to each other in Russian, squirm, and try to break free. The man slammed his head into mine, and I let go. He then ran towards a forest, trying to escape, and instead of shooting him in the back while he ran, I chased after him. After about 30 minutes, I was in the middle of a forest, and he was gone."

"I took a little rest, and then tried to head back to the village. But before I could head back, I heard shouting and gunshots. I ran in the oppos-"

"What are gunshots?" Sokka interrupted.

"They are the sounds firearms make when they are used. After I heard the gunshots I ran in th-"  
"What do gunshots sound like?"

"Do you really want to know?" Andrew asked.

"...Yes."

"Go outside the village, and build a snowman. Once you are done, tell me and I might show you." Andrew told the younger boy.

Sokka got up, and bolted out the door.

"I ran the opposite direction of the gunshots until I couldn't hear any gunshots, and my legs gave out. Sometime during the chase, I was shot in the arm, but I didnt notice it until after I was alone." Andrew said, finishing his story.

Kanna sat there thinking for a minute before she got up to look for bandages.

Aang walked from the entrance over to Andrew. "What are guerillas?"

"Guerrillas are basically people-usually civilians-who join together to fight a regular army."

"If you are fighting another country's army, why aren't those guerrilla people help them fight against you?"

"Because more often than not, guerrillas like to commit atrocities, like killing or torturing P.O.W.'s. Hell, I'm surprised you guys don't even know that much about the war, considering it might be the end of humanity if things arent solved by conventional warfare."

Kanna returned, and nudged Aang out of the way "I don't have any cloth that I can use as a bandage, other than what is in our sleeping furs. Do you have anything in your bag?"

_Oh shit,_ Andrew thought_, I fogot about the medical supplies in my bag._

Andrew got up, walked over to his rucksack and began to dig through it.

"MRE, ammunition, extra grenade, purification drops, sleeping roll," as the items were listed, Andrew pulled them out and set them on the fur covered floor.

"Ah, bandages." He said, pulling out a clear plastic package which had a roll of gauze bandages inside. "Here."

Kanna took the package of bandages, and stared at it, while Abdrew put his gear back into his bag. "How do I get the bandages out? There seems to be no opening for me to grab them. And how am I able to see inside?"

Andrew took the bag, tore it open, and handed it to her. "Have you guys never seen plastic before? Its everywhere!"

When Kanna finished wrapping Andrew's arm, she spoke: "Well, here at the south pole, we d-"

There was a loud crash outside, and the ground shook. Jumping up, Andrew put his clothes back on as fast as he could, dawned his helmet, then ran outside with his rifle and two extra magazines in his pants pockets.

Outside was chaotic, the children were running around screaming and crying while the women tried to get a hold of them. Andrew looked around, and saw what had caused it. A fucking ship had crashed into one of the village walls.

The whole village gathered in front of the ship's bow.

The bow opened up, and slammed into the ground with a great crash. A few seconds later, three soldiers wearing red and black painted armor with tri-spiked helmets, two of which had skull faceplates.

"Where is the Avatar!?" The shorter of the three demanded.


	3. Soldiers, Civilians, and a Wise Old Man

"Where is the Avatar?!" The shorter of the three demanded.

The villagers stepped back, and Sokka ran forward towards the soldiers, and threw something metal at the one in the middle. The soldier sidestepped the weapon, and it dissapeared behind him.

Sokka reached the soldier in the middle, and was thrown back by a punch to the face. He stood back up, and charged again, only to be thrown into the snow behind the shortest soldier, and held down.

"I will not repeat myself! If you don't hand over the Avatar, I will burn down your village!" He said, stepping forward and grabbing Kanna by the collar of her parka.

He held Kanna out in front of the village. "Tell me where the avatar is!"

Nobody answered, and he threw her forward back into the crowd.

By now, Andrew had enough trying to stay neutral, and stepped forward. "Identify yourself, and your purpose in this village, or I will shoot!" He yelled, raising his rifle.

The soldier stepped towards him, and opened his mouth to speak: "I am prince Zuko, son of Firelord Ozai, and heir to the Fire Nation! My business with these savages is non of your concern. Step aside, or I w-"

KLUNK!

Zuko was hit in the back of head and fell face first into the snow. When he stood back up, the helmet he wore was laying on the ground in the snow, and Andrew got a good look at Zuko's face.

The soldier that threatened to raze the village was just as old as Andrew was, probably only a month or two younger, with a massive burn mark on the left side of his face around his eye.

"Move any closer and I'll shoot!" Andrew warned for the second time.

"You two," Zuko said to his guards, "bring him to me."

The soldiers moved forward for a few feet. "Don't move! " he yelled, but they continued.

When the two soldiers were only a few yards away, Andrew shot the one on the right, square in the chest. The soldier dropped to the ground and began to writhe.

Everybody froze.

Nobody moved, except for the man laying in the snow. A large pool of blood was quickly forming around the convulsing figure, before the person stilled, and after a minute of movement, they stilled and let out a massive breath.

Andrew aimed the barrel of his rifle at Zuko looked at Andrew with a horrified face.

"I-I sur-surrender!" He stuttered, holding his his hands above his head in fear of being shot.

Andrew looked at the younger boy. _Why would__ a prince would be out here all alone? Nobody would send a prince to fight without a supervisor_. "Who is in charge of your ship?"

Zuko opened his mouth to speak, then shut it before he actually said anything.

Once again, he opened his mouth, "M-my uncle, prince Iroh."

"Then take me to him. I want to know what sick monster approves war crimes."

Zuko nodded, before turning to the guard on his right. "Grab some of the men, and bring the corpse of Corporal Shen onto the Ōkami. Then come to General Iroh's quarters."

_So the man in charge is a general_ Andrew thought, his heart started to beat faster, _How am I supposed to talk to a general?_

Andrew thought he was going to talk to a captain, or maybe a lieutenant, but a general. Not only did he not know a single thing about the Russian army, the one he was fighting against, but he was going to talk to a general in an army for a country he never heard of.

"Follow me..." Zuko told Andrew in a fearful voice.

* * *

"My uncle is in here." Zuko said opening a door, and stepping inside.

"Prince Zuko!," a voice said excitedly, "Were you successful in finding the avatar?"

Andrew stepped in, and looked around. The interior of the room was filled with random trinkets and objects. What immediately caught Andrew's attention was the large red banner with a flame insignia mounted on the wall. In front of it, sat a rather plump old man with a porcelain tea set.

"No uncle, I did not catch the avatar... Instead, I encountered this man guarding the village." Zuko admitted, his voice full of worry.

"And why is he on our ship nephew?" The elderly man asked, genuinely confused.

"After I surrendered to him, he demanded to see whoever was in charge of me, and I brought him to you."

"Ah, thank you prince Zuko, you may leave now." The old man told his nephew.

"But uncle, he-"

"I appreciate your concerns Zuko, but I will be fine."

Zuko looked at Andrew with a scowl on his face before he left.

Andrew turned to look at the man before he was gestured to sit.

Sitting down on a small cushion laying on the floor, Andrew refocused on the man sitting before him.

"Please excuse my nephew. He has begun to developed a bad temper over the last six years. Now, what did you want with me?"

Andrew looked at him _Well, I wasn't expecting that._  
"I wanted to see your nephew's commanding officer. Are you General Iroh?"

"I used to be '_General_ Iroh', but now, I am just _prince_ Iroh. I retired about six years ago. Now, what did you want to speak with me about?"

"I wanted to inform you of what your nephew ordered; the destruction of the village you tried to raid. If the village did not come forward with the information about wherever the '_Avatar_' is, your nephew would have razed the village to the ground. If I hadn't been there, he probably would have gone through with his threats."

Iroh looked like he was holding back anger.

"I see... I have just one question though. If you are both unharmed, how did you stop him? My nephew isn't the kind of person to obey orders, especially from anyone other than the royal family."

"He ordered his men to capture me, and...well, I killed one of the soldiers that tried, and he surrendered." Andrew explained with a grimace.

_This isn't the first time I've killed someone. But why am I not at all shaken up about it like last time?_ Andrew asked himself.

Iroh closed his eyes, bowed his head, and took a deep breath before looking back up at Andrew. "I cannot fault you for your actions, for I have also committed dishonorable acts such as killing. I was a general after all."

Andrew sat there in awe_. How can he be so calm? I just told him I killed one of the men under his command_. "Ge-Iroh, what will you do about Zuko and the village?"

"I will discipline Zuko, but we will not leave the village until we are given the whereabouts of the Avatar, or conduct a full village search." Iroh answered.

"What is the 'Avatar'? Is it an weapon, or a place? I've heard it mentioned twice now, by you and Zuko, but I don't know what it is." Andrew asked Iroh.

"The avatar is the bridge between the spirit world and ours, he is meant to restore balance to the world in its times of need. He is also the only bender who can bend all 4 elements."

"The avatar is able to bend elements? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well there are four nations with four bending types; the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, the Air Nomads, the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Nation. The names of the nations are what some of the inhabitants can bend. I myself am a firebender." Iroh finished, producing a ball of flame in his hand.

Andrew jumped back from Iroh, and retreated to the corner, holding his rifle in front of himself.

Iroh had a surprised look on his face and didn't move from his seated position. "Is something wrong?"

"How did you do that?!"

"Once you master breathing, you can control your inner flame easier."

"I don't mean that, I mean, how did you make that fire?"

"I was blessed by Agni, so I have the ability to firebend. Have you never seen a bender of any element?"

"Of course not! This should be impossible! It makes no sense for people to be able to 'bend' fire!"

"Perhaps we can find out why you have never seen a firebender before. What nation are you from?"

"The United States."

"Unfortunately, I do not know where that is. What does help either is you arent wearing any nation's colors." Iroh gestured to Andrew's clothes.

Andrew looked down at his clothing.

He was wearing white and light grey camouflage pants with a tan belt, and a tan thermal shirt with red staining on the right sleeve.

"Well, the clothes I'm wearing are standard issue for fighting in freezing temperatures." Andrew explained, leaning against the wall.

Iroh thought about it for a moment, and then spoke. "The only nation fighting against the Water Tribes, is the Fire Nation. Are you sure you are not a Fire Nation subject?"

An uncomfortable silence filled the room until Andrew could think of a defense.

"If I'm part of the Fire Nation, then how would you not know what the United States are, and I not know what the Fire Nation is if it's the country that we were both born in?"

"Perhaps you were born in the colonies? The majority of our soldiers come from our colonies in the Earth Kingdom, so it is not unreasonable for that to be the case."

"The United States hasn't been anyone's colony for over 200 years, after all, every year we celebrate our independence."

Iroh said nothing.

"And since were both soldiers from the same country, why are you wearing armor that looks four hundred years old? If we a part of the same military, you wouldn't be using a ship that looks like it was used during the Civil War."

Iroh sat with a displeased look on his face.

_I shouldn't have been so harsh,_ Andrew thought, looking away from Iroh. _This man has been nothing but nice to me, and I've been rude._

He knew that Iroh was a general, so he shouldn't have been so disrespectful, even to a general of another country.

"I'm sorry for my outburst general Iroh, I have been through a lot in the past few days. Maybe, you can show me a world map, then I can point out where I am from." Finishing the sentance, Andrew rubbed the back of his head.

Iroh got up, and walked over to a grey chest in the corner of the room. Producing a small flame, he shot it into the keyhole, and the chest opened.

_What else can these people do?_ Andrew thought, undoing his helmet and setting it on the metal floor behind himself.

Iroh pulled an old paper scroll, and handed it to Andrew. "Be careful with that map. It is about a year old, requisitioned at the Fire Navy port in Shi Ohsoma."

Unrolling the scroll, Andrew found a map with four different colored sections of the world. A string of islands was painted orange red, the poles were painted white, a massive continent was painted green, and three large islands and a dot on opposite sides of the map were painted light grey.

"General Iroh, this isn't a map of the world. It looks like a kid's art class project."

"A child's painting? Why would you compare these professionally made maps to a child's painting?"

"I'm comparing the two because the world doesnt look like this," Andrew said, holding the map out for Iroh to see. "This map is completely fake. You can tell because none of the world's continents are there, the oceans are all wrong, and the different countries' borders are nonexistent."

"That is what the world looks like. Are you certain the world doesn't look like the map?" Iroh asked, stroking his beard.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure the world doesnt look like this."

"Then perhaps this isn't your world." Iroh suggested.

Andrew was taken aback by what the old general said, and asked him what he meant. "Well, perhaps you were reincarnated to a different time than the period you grew up in. It may be uncommon, but it isn't unheard of."

"Reincarnation? No offense general, but are you crazy? If you are killed, you don't come back. Nothing happens after you die."

"That may be the case in your thinking, but I am very well educated for what comes after death."

By now, Andrew was becoming more and more confused the longer Iroh continued to argue.

"Nobody knows what actually happens after you die. The only people who do, are in the ground, dead. So how can you, a living person, know what happens when you die?" Andrew asked, bracing his body angainst the floor with his arm.

Iroh looked away from Andrew, and wiped his sleeve against his face before speaking. "After my son Lu Ten was killed, I journeyed into the spirit world looking for him so I could try to bring him back to the living world. I was successful in my last attempt to get into the spirit world, and wandered around looking for my son. I was unable to find Lu Ten. During my quest to find him, I interacted with many spirits, some of which took pity on me, but others laughed at me and called me weak."

"I conversed with several of the spirits hoping to find where Lu Ten had gone, and found that when people die, they do not go to the spirit world, and instead their memories are taken from them, and they are reincarnated back into the world. I was distraught by what they had said, and asked if anyone had gone to the spirit world when they died. One of the spirits, Ja-Sintak, told me that the only humans that make it to the spirit world, devoted their lives to helping end the conflicts between the spirits that inhabited the mortal world, and humans. The avatar, whose past lives always came to the spirit world, and would only ever leave when they were called on by the avatar."

Chin on his knees, and arms wrapped around his legs, Andrew sat quietly, listening to Iroh explain how he knew the workings of death_. What if I am dead? Maybe these spirits decided to punish me by bringing me here?_

"Then how is the Avatar able to communicate, and call on his past lives when he is in need? There have even been accounts of dead avatars appearing when the avatar goes into the avatar state." Iroh continued.

When Andrew didn't respond, Iroh stopped offering explanations.

_What if this is supposed to be some kind of hell? The world is apparently differently shaped, the people here have impossible abilities, so could this be punishment for my sins or something?_

"You look troubled. Perhaps you would like some calming tea?"

Andrew looked up, and nodded. "Yes please."

Iroh stood, and walked over to the low table beside his bed, and began to make the tea.

A few minutes later, Iroh was done and handed a cup of tea to Andrew. He downed it in one cup, and asked for another. This continued for several minutes before Andrew's vision began to blur, and he passed out on the floor.

* * *

Andrew shot up, and rubbed his head. Looking around, he noticed he was still in general Iroh's quarters, but Iroh wasn't in the room with him.

Beside him still laid his rifle, along with his helmet._ At least he isn't a thief_ Andrew thought.

When he finally stood, Andrew noticed the ship was shaking beneath him. He grabbed his rifle, and helmet then made his way towards the door, only for it to swing open and almost knock him over.

Standing in the doorway, was Zuko, and he was holding Andrew's rucksack in his left hand. "So, you're awake. My uncle told me to bring you your things," he said, throwing the bag onto the ground beside Andrew. "We searched your bag and found no weapons, so he told me to give it to you."

Andrew knelt down beside his bag, and looked through it, everything was still in there, even his hand grenade. "Don't throw my shit, I've got valuable stuff in here."

"No you don't." Zuko said, leaning onto the door frame.

Andrew looked up at him, and glared. "How'd you get my bag?"

"After you came aboard, my men searched the village, and found the avatar inside an ice hut, trying to hide himself, and your bag like the coward he is. He surrendered, and we took the things he was trying to hide with."

Andrew stood, and pointed his rifle at Zuko's feet. "I swear to god, if you hurt any of those civilians, I will kill you."

Zuko stepped back and raised his arms in front of himself at the threat. "Don't worry! We didn't harm anyone!"

Zuko's threatening demeanor was gone, and had been replaced by someone practically begging for his life. Andrew lowered his rifle, but kept his defensive stance.

"But, even if you did or didn't kill me, we are on a course to the nearest Fire Navy port where you will be tried for killing a Fire Navy sailor, and beheaded. By now, we are already far from the shore, so there is no escape."

_If I'm already a dead man, there is no use trying to beg for my life._

Andrew raised his M4, ready to shoot Zuko in the head when a yellow and red clad figure raced by the door, knocking Zuko inside Iroh's room. "What the fuck!?" He shouted, looking into the hall.

Zuko gasped, and sprinted down the hall in the direction the brightly colored person went.

Andrew spun around, grabbed his bag, and threw it over his left shoulder, only for the contents at the top of his bag to spill out onto the floor.

Andrew cursed, and dropped his bag back onto the floor. The gear laying on the floor was his IOTV, his grey parka, his camelback, and his uniform._ How the fuck did this much shit fall out?_ He thought, stuffing everything back in, before rebuttoning his ruck.

He slung it back over his shoulder, and ran into the hallway with his M4 raised.

* * *

After ten minutes of sweeping the hallways, Andrew reached the deck, and ran out towards the crowd of Fire Nation soldiers standing behind Zuko, who was looking over the railing at the water beneath the ship.

"Aang! No!" A voice shouted from far above him.

Andrew looked up, and saw a huge furry animal with six legs and no wings, flying. On top of its head, and in the saddle on it's back, were Sokka and Katara.

Andrew rushed over to the railing, and saw ripples in the water. _Did Aang jump overboard to escape Zuko?_

Andrew turned, to look at Zuko, then back to the water, and saw Aang being propelled upwards with a cyclone of water.

He was brought high into the air by the water, only to bring it crashing onto the deck, knocking everybody that stood watching either overboard, or against the railing.

Andrew was knocked into the railing, and then fell onto the deck, gasping for air. All the air had been knocked out of him, and as he laid on the ground writhing in pain, he was gasping for air.

He sat upright, trying to get the air back into his lungs, and after a few seconds, he could breath properly. Standing up was hard, but in the end Andrew was able to get back up and looked around. Out of all of the people that were standing on the deck, only him, Aang and two other soldiers remained.

Stumbling over to Aang, Andrew saw he began to sway before collapsing onto the metal deck. "Aang!" Andrew shouted, stumbling over to him.

When he reached Aang, a large crash shook the deck, and Andrew looked to his left and saw the creature had landed on the ship's deck. Katara and Sokka hopped off, and ran towards them. "Aang! Are you okay?!" Katara shouted.

When the two siblings reached Andrew, who was holding Aang, they knelt beside him. Aang opened his eyes and looked at Katara before speaking. "Hey Katara... hey Sokka...thanks for coming. Andrew? Where did you come from?" He asked, weakly.

"I was on the ship with you." Andrew explained, shifting Aang's weight onto Katara's lap.

"Oh...well, I'm still glad to see all of you." Aang stated.

"Well, we couldn't let you have all the glory." Sokka said, smiling.

"I dropped my staff." Aang said, looking towards the bow.

Katara, Sokka, and Andrew looked towards the bow and saw a wooden staff laying on the ground.

"I'll get it." Andrew said, getting up and jogging over to the wooden stick.

When Andrew reached the item in question, he grabbed onto it, and so did another person. Reeling back, he saw Zuko had grabbed onto the opposite end, trying to get back on deck. Bringing his boot back towards himself, Andrew kicked Zuko's arm making him let go, and fall back towards the freezing water below.

After falling about six feet, Zuko's hand caught onto the half-lowered anchor hanging from the side of the ship. "Fuck you!" Zuko shouted at him.

Andrew spit down at Zuko, and got him on the forehead, before returning the same insult.

Rushing back towards the group, he found they were on the creature's back, getting ready to leave. The three soldiers that had been knocked over during Aang's magic water attack, were now standing back up with their spears pointed towards katara, who was still on the deck.

She raised her arms, bringing water up to her waist, and swung them down towards the ground, making the water that soaked the deck to freeze.

Including the water underneath Andrew's boots.  
"Katara! You froze my boots to the deck!" Andrew shouted to her.

Katara turned around, and prepared to do the same motion, completely ignoring Andrew. He watched her lift her arms higher than she had before, and swung them towards the ground, freezing the water below the soldiers approaching her in ice.

Andrew gaped at Katara, before he went back to freeing his feet from the ice. He took his helmet off, and began to smash the ice that surrounded his ankles.

"Hurry up Andrew!" Katara called out.

He looked up, and saw everyone was in the saddle but him. "'_Hurry up Andrew_', gee, why doesnt she help me? It's not like _she_ froze the water around my feet." He muttered.

With one last powerful hit, the ice broke away, and he rushed towards the giant furry creature. When Andrew reached the top of the animal's back, he threw himself inside. "Appa! Yip, yip!" Sokka commanded.

On his command, the creature lurched forward and then jumped up, almost throwing Andrew over the edge of the saddle. Falling face first into the cloth and wood saddle, Andrew began to breathe heavily.

_If this is the type of shit I'm going to deal with in hell, I'm going to commit suicide_.

"Are you alright?" Sokka asked.

Panting, Andrew told him the truth. "Does it look like I'm okay to you?"

Sokka looked him over, and gave a meek 'yes', before looking over Andrew's shoulder.

"Uh, Aang? What are they doing?" Katara asked, looking at the same spot Sokka was.

Andrew turned around, and saw Zuko and Iroh running towards the bow, circling their arms around their bodies. A massive flame was shot straight towards the group, ready to bring them down on contact.

Aang jumped from the saddle, and with one animalistic cry, he slammed his staff against the ball of flames, sending it into the glacier beside the boat. The resulting explosion sent a massive chunk of ice into the deck of the Okami stopping it dead in the water.

They continued to fly farther and father away from the ship, and Adrew watched until the Ôkami was a black dot by a wall of bluish-white ice.

* * *

By the time the sky was an orange-yellow tint, Andrew turned around to the sound of Katara's voice.  
"How did you do that? With the water?" She asked excitedly, "It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

"I don't know, I just sort of...did it." Aang said dejectedly.

"Why didn't you tell us you were the avatar?" Katara asked, hoping to get an answer from him.

Aang sighed, and looked away. "Because...I never wanted to be."

That silenced Katara, and the rest of the group for a few minutes, the wind being the only sound made.

"But Aang, the world has been waiting for the avatar to return and finally put an end to this war."

"But how am I going to do that?"

"According to legend; you must first master water, then earth, then fire, right?"

"That's what the monks told me." Aang replied, finally looking up.

"Well, if we go to the north pole, you can finally master waterbending." Katara finished with a smile on her face.

This brought Aang out of his depressed mood, and he smiled. "Then we can learn it together!"

Katara looked to her brother, who was sitting beside Andrew. "And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way."

Sokka smiled too, and looked away. "I'd like that. I'd really like that."

Katara looked around, and spoke. "Then we're in this together!"

Andrew coughed to get their attention, and everyone looked towards him. "Where do I fit into this crazy plan of yours? Because I seem to have been left out in your guy's planning."

Nobody said anything.

"For fuck's sake, I'm not even a part of the war you guys are fighting." He continued.

Sokka rolled his eyes at Andrew. "Everybody is a part of this war! Every nation in the world is fighting the Fire Nation."

"Well, I guess I'm not from this world, because in my world, we don't have magic control over air, water, fire, and earth. There are almost two hundred nations, not just four that have some impossible control over nature, and there certainly isn't a war between people who can control fire, and people who can control water."

"People can't bend where you are from?" Aang asked with wide eyes.

"Of course not! We dont defy the laws of physics on a day to day basis, or have magical telekinetic powers over elements. It's just regular people with no supernatural abilities." Andrew ranted.

"What I would give to go there..." Sokka said, longingly.

"Sure you would." Andrew said sarcastically.

The group went silent, until Aang spoke up. "You can come with us Andrew. You might not have a problem with the Fire Nation, but you can still travel with us."

Andrew sighed, and agreed. "I've got nowhere else to go, so I might as well see the world with you guys."

"Alright! But, before I learn waterbending we have some serious business to attend to," Aang said, pulling out a map, "here, here, and here."

Katara pointed to a spot on the map and asked what was there. "Here, we'll ride the hopping llamas, and waaaaay over here well ride on the backs of giant koi fish, and back over here we will ride on the backs of the giant hog-monkeys, -they don't like people riding them- but that's what makes it fun!"

Aang had a huge grin on his face while everyone else looked at him like he was crazy.

"This is going to be one helluva trip..." Andrew said.


	4. Memories of the Dead

Andrew woke up at about 0400, ready to get moving, but found nobody was awake yet, so he decided to try and go back to sleep.

When he woke up for the second time, the sun was just rising over the steep cliff faces surrounding the camp they had set up by the lakeside the previous day.

Andrew got out of his sleeping bag, and stood up. The campfire had burnt out already, and everyone was still in their sleeping bags. Andrew put his boots on, then his thermal undershirt, and his uniform before walking off towards the bushes by their camp to relieve himself.

On his way back to the campsite, Andrew saw that Aang and Katara had gotten out of their bags, and began to reload their things onto Appa the flying bison.

"Wait 'till you see it Katara! The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world." Aang said with a smile on his face.

"Aang, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home." Katara said, trying to prepare him for what they might find.

"Yeah! That's why I'm so excited."

"I don't know Aang, a lot can change in all that time."

"I know, but I need to see it for myself." He said, jumping off Appa's head.

Aang glided down to the ground at a lighter-than-air speed. When he reached the ground, Aang saw Andrew standing beside Appa's head.

"Oh, hey Andrew. Are you excited to see the Southern Air Temple?"

"Yeah... I bet it's going to be loads of fun." Andrew replied.

Aang walked off, and Andrew walked around behind Appa, to talk with Katara about why she was so nervous to go.

"Katara, can I talk to you?" He asked, climbing up Appa's tail.

"Sure Andrew." She said, smiling.

"It's about the Air Temple. Why are you so worried about him going?"

Katara lost the smile, and looked down at her hands. "The thing that started the Hundred Year War was when Firelord Sozin used a comet to wipe out all of the Air Nomads. Since Aang didn't know about the war, that means he's been in there for over a hundred years, and doesn't know about what happened to his people."

The Air Nomads were genocided? Andrew lowered his voice. "The Fire Nation killed all the Air Nomads?"

"Yes..."

"I think we should tell Aang about what happened. It might lessen his sadness when he sees what happened."

Katara started to fidget with her hands, "I want to tell him, but it would make him upset."

Andrew sighed. "Where I'm from, something similar happened. A place called Germany found all the people they thought were 'inferior', they killed six million Jews, and a few million other races of people,"  
Katara gasped. "But when the war ended, and Germany lost, they accepted that they had done something horrific, they tried to make amends with the survivors and Jews as a whole."

"So...what does that story have to do with telling Aang?" She asked, horrified, but genuinely confused.

"It means, we shouldn't hide the things that happened, and instead accept that it happened, so the world can try to go back to being the way it was. If we tell Aang what happened, he can accept the way things are now, and try to make the world better."

"Then we should tell him when he sees what happened to the Air Temples." She offered.

Andrew knew he wasnt going to get his way, so he'd agree. "Fine. But, as soon as he finds out, you are the one who has to keep him from trying to do something. Deal?" He asked, holding his hand out.

"De-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! AAAAAAAH! OOF!"

Andrew and Katara turned to see Sokka in his sleeping bag, about twenty feet where he was originally, face down in the dirt.

"Great! You're awake. Let's go!" Aang said cheerfully.

Andrew turned back to Katara, and lowered his voice. "Remember, you're the one who's going to stop his crying."

* * *

Sokka grabbed his stomach and turned to look at Andrew, who was sitting back on the saddle, holding his rucksack.

He turned back around, and spoke to his stomach. "Hey, Stomach, be quiet alright? I'm trying to find us some food."

Andrew looked up at Sokka, who was now starting to search through his bags, looking for food. He grabbed a tan bag, and stuck his arm inside, looking for something to eat. He pulled his arm back out, and dumped the contents of the bag onto his hand.

Only a few reddish brown crumbs fell onto the palm of his hand. "Hey?! Who are all my blubbered seal jerky?" He asked no-one in particular.

"Oh, that was food? I used it to start the campfire last night. Sorry." Andrew heard Aang say.

"You what?!" Sokka shouted, slumping over and sighing. "No wonder the flames smelled so good..."

Suddenly, Appa took a fairly steep dive into a cloud, and everybody held the edge of the saddle until Appa leveled out.

"Hey! The Pahtolla mountain range! We're almost there!" Aang shouted.

Andrew made his way towards Appa's head, trying not to be thrown out if they dived again. When he reached the front part of the saddle, Katara started to talk to Aang. "Aang, before we get to the temple, I wanted to talk to you about the airbenders."

Oh boy, here it comes Andrew thought, trying to remain unseen while he listened in on Aang and Katara's conversation. "What about them?"

"Well, I just wanted you to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless, they killed my mother. They could have done the same to your people..."

Aang was silent for a moment before he began again. "Just because nobody has seen an airbender in a hundred years, doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped."

"I know it's hard to accept-"

"You don't understand Katara," Aang interrupted, "the only way to get to an Air Temple is on a flying bison, and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison. Right Appa?"

It was obvious Aang was trying to avoid the truth, but Andrew didn't want to intervene in this future trainwreck.  
"Yip, yip!" Aang called out to Appa.

Oh shit, better hold onto something Andrew though as the bison took a huge dive up. Appa kept flying up at an unsafe angle, towards a cloud formation, and once they broke through the clouds, he leveled out. On top of a mountain in the distance was about a dozen spiral towers carved into the mountainside, with several terraces all around.  
"There it is, the Southern Air Temple." Aang told the group.

Andrew was astonished by what he saw. This had to be one of the most scenic place on earth. "Aang, it's amazing!" Katara told him.

Aang smiled, and patted Appa's head. "We're home buddy, we're home."

* * *

Aang had landed Appa on the lowest terrace, and now the group were headed up the mountain, on a wide stone path. Andrew thought since they were so high up, there was no need to bring his M4 and the rest of his gear.

As they walked along, Aang tried his hardest to get everyone moving faster so he could go talk to the monks.

"So, where can I get something to eat?" Sokka asked, as Aang ran ahead.

Katara, and Andrew both rolled their eyes at him, and Katara tried to scold him. "You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to ever visit an Air Temple, and all you can think about is food?" She asked kn disbelief.

Sokka shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands by his side. I'm just a simple guy, with simple needs."

Andrew laughed, and Katara turned around to glare at him. "Don't encourage him!"

Andrew held his hands up in mock surrender. "Okay fine, I won't!"

Katara, satisfied with the way Andrew gave up, turned around to continue walking. A few yards up the path, Aang stood, and pointed at something. "Look! That's where my friends and I would play airball." Where he pointed was a terrace with dozens of logs jutting out of the ground at different heights with two wooden squares at each end.

"There's where the sky bison would sleep, and..." Aang sighed, and didnt finish his sentence.

"What's wrong Aang?" Katara asked.

"It's just...this place used to be so full of monks, lemurs, and bison. But now, there's just a bunch of weeds... I cant believe how much things have changed."

Katara, Sokka, and Andrew all looked at each other, before stepping towards Aang. "This airball game, how do you play?" Sokka asked.

Aang turned, and smiled. "It's easy, let me show you guys."

* * *

Sokka stood on the end closest to where Katara and Andrew were standing, while Aang stood on the opposite end of the court, twirling the airball using his bending.

He spun it around, rolled it over his shoulders, and sent it flying into the air. As Sokka looked up for the ball, it came back down to waist level with Aang, and he used an air kick to send it flying towards the opposite end. The ball ricocheted off the logs, and crashed into Sokka's stomach, sending him through the wooden gate behind him.

He landed in a pile of brush, and Aang laughed. "Aang seven, Sokka zero!" He shouted, still standing on one of the logs.

"Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt..." Sokka grumbled, getting to his feet.

Andrew turned to look at Sokka, and spotted something in the snow, a few feet away from him. Sokka crawled towards it, and called for them to take a look. "Andrew, Katara! Check this out..."

Andrew and Katara both looked down at it. It was a rusted Fire Nation helmet. "Fire Nation." Katara confirmed.

"We should tell him." Andrew and Sokka said at the same time.

Katara turned towards Aang, who was still standing on the wooden posts, waiting for Sokka to return. "Aang! There's something you need to see!" She called out.

Aang hopped off, and ran towards the trio. "Okay!"

Katara looked at Andrew, then the helmet, and back to Aang. Turning her body to face Sokka, she swung her arms to the left, and the snow on the hill above him came crashing down on top ofhim.

Aang, who was now standing in front of Katara, asked her what she wanted him to see. "Uh...just a new waterbending move I learned." She answered.

Aang looked behind her, at Sokka who was covered in snow, and then back at Katara. "Nice one. But enough practicing, we have a whole temple to explore." He said, walking away.

Andrew put his hand on Katara's shoulder, and spun her around. "Katara! We can't just hide what happened forever. He's going to find out eventually."

Katara looked down at the ground before she walked in the direction Aang went. "It's best not to interfere. Knowing Katara, if you say something before she wants it to be said, she'll soak you in water and freeze it." Sokka said, getting to his feet.

Both Andrew and Sokka walked in the direction that Aang and Katara went.

When they reached the next terrace, Katara and Aang were talking to eachother underneath a stone arch, before Aang ran into a tunnel. Andrew and Sokka made it up the stairs before Sokka started to talk to his sister. "Katara, firebenders were here, you can't pretend they weren't."

She rolled her eyes, and started to walk the way Aang did. "I can for Aang's sake. If he finds out the Fire Nation invaded his home, he'll be devastated."

Andrew opened his mouth to speak, but Aang, who just came back from the tunnel, interrupted him. "Guys! I want you to meet someone."

Aang was standing beside a stone statue with a beaded wooden necklace. It was a statue of an old monk with a long mustache. He was carved with similar clothing to Aang's. "This is monk Gyatso, the greatest air bending monk in the world. He taught me everything I know." He explained, finishing with a deep bow.

Aang stared off into space, until Katara walked up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. "You must miss him." Katara half asked-half stated.

"Yeah..." he mumbled, walking back into the tunnel.

"Where are you going?" Andrew and Katara asked in unison.

"The air temple sanctuary," He replied, still headed farther inside. "There's someone I'm ready to meet."

Katara turned to look at Sokka and Andrew, the former, shrugged his shoulders.

At the end of the tunnel was a large wooden door, with two tubes wrapped in a complex pattern with three carved stones. "No one could have survived in there for a hundred years." Katara told Aang.

"It's not impossible. I survived in that iceberg for that long." Aang deflected.

"Yeah, but you survived with your reality defying powers. A regular person won't live that long." Andrew told him.

Katara slapped him in the chest, before Aang spoke again. "Guys, whoever is in there might be able to help me figure out this avatar thing."

Sokka pushed through Andrew and Katara, rambling. "And, whoever's in there might have a stash of delicious cured meats!" He finished, rubbing his gloved hands together.

Sokka rushed the door, expecting it to open when he pushed through it, but crashed face first into the unmoving wood. Steadying himself after his first attempt, Sokka tried to push the door open, but it didn't budge. "Aang, I don't suppose you have the key?"

"The key Sokka, is air bending." Aang told him. "If you move, I can get the door open."

Sokka obliged, and moved out of Aang's way.

Standing a few yards from the door, Aang took a deep breath, pushed his arms forward, and sent two huge streams of air into the horn openings. The air went through the tubes, turning the carved sections one by one, until the door split in two, and swung open.

Inside was pitch black. "Hello? Anyone home?" Aang called out, walking into the darkness.

After he disappeared into the darkness, Andrew, Sokka, and Katara followed after him.

As soon as their eyes adjusted to the darkness, everyone was amazed by what was in front of them; the room was filled with stone statues of hundreds of different people. As they spread out, it was apparent that there were no living people inside.

"Statues? That's it?! Where's the meat?!" Sokka shouted, clearly disappointed.

Andrew stood in front of a armor clad man with a topknot, holding one of his hands in front of him with what looked to be flames carved above his palm.

Farther to the left of him, he heard Katara start to talk. "Who are all these people?" She asked.

Andrew made his way over to them when he saw Sokka standing a few feet behind them. "I'm not sure, but it feels like I know them somehow...look!" He said, pointing at the statue in front of him. "That one's an airbender."

Katara looked at the one in front of her, and pointed at it. "And this one's a waterbender! They're lined up in a pattern. Air, water, earth, and fire." She said, pointing to a different statue every time she listed a different element.

"That's the avatar cycle!" Aang pointed out excitedly.

"Of course!" Katara said in a moment of clarity. "They're avatars. Aang, all of these people are your past lives."

Aang looked up, and saw even more statues lining the walls, all the way up to the ceiling. "There's so many!"

Sokka and Andrew both rolled their eyes. "Past lives? Katara, you actually believe that stuff?" Sokka asked.

"It's true! When the avatar dies, he is reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle."

Andrew looked over his shoulder at Aang, who was staring at the last statue in the spiral of stone people. Katara looked over to Andrew, hoping to get support against Sokka, but followed his eyes over to Aang.

Aang was standing frozen in place eyes locked onto the statue's lifeless ones. Acting on instinct, Katara rushed over to him, followed by Andrew and Sokka, then shook him by his shoulders. "Aang, snap out of it!"

This seemed to work, and Aang refocused on his surroundings. "Huh? What?"

Katara looked to where he was staring and asked him who the statue was. "That's avatar Roku, the avatar before me."

"You were a firebender? No wonder I didnt trust you when we first met." Sokka said nonchalantly.

Andrew elbowed him in the side, and Sokka cried out. "Hey! What was that for?!" He whispered harshly.

Andrew glared at him, and mouthed Shut the fuck up!

Sokka pouted, and turned away.

"But there's no writing. How do you know his name?"

"I'm not sure, I just...know it somehow."

Sokka grumbled, and told Aang he keeps getting weirder and weirder.

A loud humming split the air, and everyone spun around. On the floor was a large shadow with pointed tips protruding out of its head. The four of them ducked behind two of the statues, and prepared for the worst.

"Firebender," Sokka whispered. "Nobody make a sound."

"You're making a sound!" Katara whispered back.

Aang and Sokka shushed her, and she said nothing else. "That firebender won't know what hit him!" Sokka said.

A coo could be heard, and Sokka jumped out at the figure with his whalebone club, only to find that the person was just some sort of a lemur. "LEMUR!" "Dinner!" Aang and Sokka shouted.

"Don't listen to him, you're going to be my new pet!" Aang reassured the animal.

"Not if I get it first!" Sokka shouted, lunging at the animal.

Aang followed suit, and the lemur turned to flee down the hall. The lemur made it out the door, and Aang called out to it.

"Guys! Wait up!" Andrew shouted, running after the two.

He bolted down the hall, quickly catching up to Sokka as he and Aang raced after the animal. Aang quickened his pace, then gained the lead, only for Sokka to try and sweep his feet out from underneath the monk. Aag hopped over the club, and started running along the wall, giggling. When he came back down to the floor, he spun a ball of air behind himself, tripping Sokka, and Andrew over Sokka.

They fell on top of eachother, and skidded to a halt. "What the hell Sokka!" He shouted at the other boy.

They both stood back up, and got into a shouting match with each other before Sokka noticed that Aang was gone, and ceased his yellig. "Where'd Aang go?"

Andrew looked down the way Aang was headed, and saw a balcony was at the end of the hall. "Did Aang just fucking jump?!"

He rushed over to the balcony, and saw Aang was at the very bottom of the hundred foot drop, chasing the lemur into a destroyed building. Sighing, he turned to Sokka. "He's at the bottom. So we should probably find a way down there."

"Alright. But if you find the lemur, give it to me." Sokka told him.

"No promises."

* * *

Andrew and Sokka found a staircase that led down to the terrace Aang had jumped down to.

When they reached the bottom, Andrew pointed at the destroyed building Aang had chased the lemur into. "I saw him run in there."

"Good. Now I can finally eat something!" Sokka said gleefully.

"Sokka! Don't eat the fucking thing. What if it has some kind of horrible disease! I mean, look at it. I've never seen a lemur with bat wings and ears that could fly."

"Fine I won't eat it..." Sokka said, sounding crestfallen.

"Dont tell me, tell Aang. Hes the one that's worried you're going to eat the thing." Andrew said, holding a curtain aside so Sokka could enter.

Sokka ducked under the curtain, and entered with Andrew following right on his heels. Aang was on the floor, holding his head with his hands, softly crying.

"Aang, I wasnt really going to eat the lemur, okay?" Sokka said, putting his hand on Aang's shoulder. "Oh man..."

"What is it?" Andrew asked, looking over Sokka's kneeling form. "Oh..."

A few dozen feet away was a pile of Fire Nation skeletons surrounding an Air Nomad. What made Andrew feel even worse, was what he spotted around the corpse's neck; Monk Gyatso's wooden necklace.

"Come on Aang, everything's will be alright. Let's get out of here." Sokka said, trying to get Aang to leave.

"I'm sorry Aang. I.." Andrew trailed off as he saw Aang's tattoos start to glow a bluish white. "Sokka, we should leave."

The air around them began to blow, with small objects were being lifted into the air around them. As the seconds went by, larger and larger objects began to be picked up and thrown around. "Aang! Come on! You need to snap out of it!" Sokka called out to Aang.

Aang ignored him, and the wind continued to pick up, throwing Andrew and Sokka into the wall behind them. The building exploded, and sent debris into the sky high above them. A tornado began to form around Aang, picking up rocks, and other objects, to the top, where they were thrown off the side of the mountain.

As Andrew and Sokka regained their upright positions behind a chunk of the destroyed building, Katara appeared behind them. "What happened?!"

Both Sokka and Andrew turned to face Katara. "He found out firebenders killed monk Gyatso!" Andrew told her over the almost deafening sound of the wind.

"Oh no! It's his avatar state! He must have triggered it! I'm going to try and calm him down!" She told the two boys.

"Hurry up and do it before he blows us off the mountain!" Sokka shouted at her.

Little by little, over the course of about a minute, Katara made her way towards Aang, before being blown back about ten feet. "Aang! I know how you're upset! I know how hard it is to lose the people you love! I went through the same thing when I lost my mom!"

"Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family! Sokka, Andrew, and I, we're your family now!" She shouted.

This seemed to calm Aang, and he slowly descended to the ground. The winds were dying down just enough that the three of them were able to make their way over to Aang before he touched the ground.

When he feet hit the ground, the wind disappeared, but Aang's eyes and tattoos continued to glow for a few extra seconds. "Katara, Andrew, and I aren't going to let anything happen to you. We promise." Sokka told him.

Katara grabbed Aang's hand, and he slumped over onto her. "I'm sorry." He muttered.

"Its okay Aang, it wasn't your fault."

"You were right. If the firebenders found this temple, then that means they found the others too." Aang confessed. "I really am the last airbender."

With that, Katara hugged him tightly.

* * *

When they got back to the statue room, Andrew was talking to Sokka while Aang and Katara talked a little bit away. "That has to be the weirdest shit I've ever seen." Andrew told him.

"No kidding, I thought I shit my pants back there." Sokka confessed, checking his pants for any brown.

Andrew turned around just as Sokka began to dig through his pants, and saw the lemur standing in the hallway again.

This time, he hopped right over to Sokka and dumped an armful of fruit at his feet, before flying over to Aang. Sokka sat down on the ground, and started eating the fruit as fast as he could. "Sokka you nasty fuck! You're eating that fruit with the same gloves that touched your ass!" Andrew yelled at him.

Sokka looked up at him, took his gloves off, and went right back to eating. Andrew looked to Aang for help, but he was playing with the lemur.

* * *

As they were about to leave the air temple, Aang, the lemur, and Appa were standing on the landing terrace looking at the temple, while Andrew, Katara, and Sokka sat watching them. "You, me and Appa, we're all that's left of this place, so we have to stick together." Aang told the lemur.

"Sokka, Andrew, Katara, say hello to the newest member of our family." He said to them.

"What are you going to name him?" Katara asked.

The lemur jumped onto Sokka's shoulder, stole the fruit he was about to bite into, and then jumped back onto Aang's shoulder. "I'll name him Momo."

Katara and Aang started to laugh while Sokka stood frozen in place.

Andrew smiled at the their antics before joining in on the laughing.


	5. Questions and Evasion

Sokka looked up from the map in his hands at Aang, and opened his mouth. "You have no idea where you're going, do you?"

Andrew chuckled to himself, they had been going in random directions all day, and this was the first time anybody had said anything about the lack of directions. He couldn't use the compass he always carried due to the fact that the needle was stuck in place, and wouldn't point in any direction.

"Well, I know it's near water." Aang replied, sounding unsure.

Andrew looked over the edge of the saddle, they were still flying over the ocean, with no land in sight.

"I guess we're getting close then." Sokka stated in a voice so sarcastic, Andrew didnt think he could pull it off.

Andrew turned his attention away from Sokka, and back to Katara, who was trying to sew the holes in both his uniform, his undershirt, and his Anorak parka back up. He was currently trying to stay warm in the cold wind by wearing his IOTV while she mended his things. "Andrew, buddy, you look cold. Do you want to borrow my parka?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah, thanks," He replied, taking the parka. He took off his IOTV, and put on the parka. "Now I won't freeze to death up here."

"No problem."

After about an hour of flying Katara finished mending Andrew's things and gave his clothes back. And after another hour, Aang shouted that the island up ahead was a good place to stop.

* * *

As soon as they landed, Andrew grabbed his rucksack, and his IOTV, then hopped down from the saddle onto the ground to put his things in a pile.

Everybody else unpacked their gear, and Sokka began to complain about how they were taking a lot of unnecessary stops. Katara and Andrew agreed, and they voiced their concerns. "Hes right. At this rate we won't get to the north pole until spring." Katara said.

"I thought you said you wanted to master your water bending." Andrew said. "If we don't hurry up, you can't master it sooner."

"But, Appa's tired already. Aren't you boy?" Aang asked, nudging Appa.

Appa let out a huff, and Aang repeated himself. This time, Appa groaned, and laid down on the sand.

"Yeah, that was really convincing." Sokka said. "But, it is hard trying to argue with a ten ton magical monster."

Andrew laughed, but Aang ignored them, and instead pointed at something far out in the water. "Look! That's why we're here: the elephant koi. I'm going to ride one." He said, stripping down to his underwear. "Katara, you gotta watch me!"

After he finished undressing, he ran and dived into the ocean, before resurfacing and screaming about how the water was freezing cold. When he adjusted to the water, Aang swam out farther and dived again. When he resurfaced for the second time, he riding a massive koi fish by it's top fin.

The koi fish dived in and out of the water while Aang was holding onto the fin. After about a minute of this, Katara asked Andrew and Sokka what they thought of it, and Sokka gave his honest opinion. "Are you kidding? The fish is doing all the work."

Katara rolled her eyes and was about to ask Andrew what he thought, when a loud crash and Appa groaning brought her attention behind them. "Appa! Don't eat that!

Katara ran off, leaving Andrew and Sokka standing on the shore. "Do you think he'll drown?" Sokka asked.

"If he gets knocked out, maybe. But if he just gets thrown off, no."

As soon as those words were spoken, two of the elephant koi swam away from the one Aang was riding. "What do you think that's about?"

"I dunno, maybe the fish got tired or something." Sokka reasoned.

Suddenly, a large dark mass could be seen below the water's surface, even from the shore. "Aang! There's something in the water!"

"Aang! Get out of there!" Andrew shouted.

Their warnings couldn't be heard, so the two of them started waving their arms to get Aang's attention. He didn't see them, and continued to ride the elephant koi. Katara, hearing the commotion, ran towards the beach, asking what was going on. "Aang's in trouble! Aang!" Sokka yelled, still trying to get his attention.

"Aang, you gotta get out of the water!" Katara shouted.

Even Momo was hoping up and down, oblivious to what was going on, but still mimicking the three people. Far out in the water Aang waved back, only to be thrown from the elephant koi into the water.

When he resurfaced, a massive red and black fin rose above the water. Seeing this, Aang hopped above the water, and raced towards the beach, on top of the water.

The sea monster raced right after him until he reached the shore, colliding with Andrew sending them both back about thirty feet into a tree.

After about a minute of sitting still, trying to get his head to stop spinning, Andrew was helped to his feet by Sokka. "What was that?" Katara asked the three others.

"I don't know." Aang said, putting his clothes on.

"Well, let's not stick around to find out, time to hit the road." Sokka said, letting go of Andrew and crossing his arms.

Without the support, Andrew fell back into the sand, and laid down. "Don't...move me." He said, putting his arm over his eyes.

"Good job Aang!" Sokka said sarcastically. "You gave Andrew a concussion!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Aang said.

Just as he finished, green clad figures jumped down from the trees and attacked the group. One of them grabbed Sokka, and blindfolded him, while two others did the same to Aang and Katara.

Hearing the commotion, Andrew sat up to see what happened, only to be held down and blindfolded. "What the fuck?! Let me go! If y-" Andrew tried to finish his yelling, but a gag was tied around his mouth.

"So much for leaving..." Sokka said.

Andrew was lifted up, and dragged away from the shore.

* * *

After Andrew was tied to the pole, he heard a man address the group of them. "You four have some explaining to do."

"And if you don't answer all of our questions, we're throwing you back into the water with the Unagi!" A woman said.

As soon as the girl finished speaking, Sokka began. "Show yourselves you cowards!"

The blindfolds and Andrew's gag were removed.

Standing in front of them were five women dressed in green dresses with their faces painted, an old man, and the rest of the village. "Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?" Sokka demanded.

"There were no men, we ambushed you! Now tell us; who are you, and what are you doing here." She yelled.

Sokka scoffed and rolled his eyes. "There is no way a bunch of girls took us down."

"A bunch of girls, eh?" She asked, grabbing Sokka by his collar. "The Unagi will eat well tonight."

Katara leaned towards the girl, and begged. "No! Don't hurt him! He didn't mean it, my brother is just an idiot sometimes!"

"Yeah, Sokka is retarded!" Andrew added, hoping she wouldn't hurt the other boy.

The woman let go, and got into Andrew's face. "And what do you have to say for yourself?"

"It depends on what you are asking." Andrew replied, looking at the girl.

She glared at him before Aang got her attention. "It's my fault we are here. I'm sorry we came here... I just wanted to ride the elephant koi."

"How do we know you aren't Fire Nation spies?" The old man asked, pointing a finger at them. "Kyoshi has stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way!"

Aang looked stunned at the news, and spoke with a smile. "This island is named after Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!"

The old man let out an amused laugh. "Ha! How could you possibly know her? Avatar kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries!"

Aang looked down at the ground and back up to the man. "I know her, because I'm the avatar."

The crowd of people looked stunned, before the woman shook her fist at Aang. "That's impossible! The last avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago!"

"Yeah, that's me!" Aang said excitedly.

"Throw the imposter to the Unagi!" The man commanded.

After he turned to walk away, the women opened their fans and approached in an offensive stance. "Aang, do some airbending." Katara told him nervously.

Aang breathed in, and exhaled a powerful blast of air, pulling him out of the ropes, and sending him him above the wooden pole they were tied to. The crowd let out a gasp while Aang descended to the ground.

"That's the avatar-how did he do that-did you see that-that was amazing!" The crowd whispered amongst eachother.

As Aang landed in front of them, the old man was shocked into silence. "Now, check this out!" Aang said, pulling something out of his pockets.

He held his hands out, and began spinning marbles in a circle using his airbending. The crowd erupted into cheers, and one person in particular, began to whoop, then foam at the mouth before collapsing.

The old man, approached Aang, and apologized. "I'm sorry avatar. Is there any way you can forgive us for our disrespect?"

"You can make it up to us by freeing my friends." Aang said, turning back to Sokka, Andrew, and Katara, who were still tied up.

"Kyoshi warriors! Free the avatar's friends immediately!"

The girls complied, and cut the trio from their bonds. Once he was free, Andrew turned to the girl giving the orders. "Gee, thanks for the hospitality."

The girl scoffed at him. "Just because we freed you, doesn't make us friends."

"Don't worry, I don't want to be friends with girls who go around kidnapping and killing the people they find."

The girl turned, and walked away fuming. "Geez, you didnt have to be so rude." Sokka told him.

"I wouldn't have been so rude if they hadn't abducted us, and threatened to feed us to a giant fucking sea monster."

Sokka looked away, embarrassed. "Good point..."

Glancing around, Andrew noticed Appa, and all of their things were nowhere in sight. "Hey, do you see Appa and our stuff?"

Sokka did a full 360 before spinning back around. "Wait, where is Appa?" He asked, looking over to Aang. "Aang, come here."

Aang turned away from the village elder, and hopped over to Andrew and Sokka. "What's up?"

"Do you know where Appa is?" Sokka asked.

"And my gear?" Andrew added, watching the elder walk away.

"Where did they go?"

"We don't know, that's why we're asking you."

"Why don't you guys ask Oyaji? I'm sure he would know, I mean, he is the village elder."

"Aang, you shouldn't just trust these guys right off the bat. They did just kidnap and threaten to kill us for just being on the island. The only reason we got out of it was because you told them you were the avatar, and even then they called you a heretic and tried to kill us." Andrew told him.

"Andrew has a point Aang. They threatened to kill us, and even playing the avatar card wasnt as helpful as you thought it would be." Sokka added.

Aang thought about it for a second. "Well, what do you think we should do?"

"I suggest we leave. You may be an all powerful being, but that doesn't mean me, Sokka, and Katara are."

"But we just got here." Aang complained, with a deep frown.

"We know Aang, but that doesn't mean this island is safe." Sokka said.

_Maybe we should stay a day, to cheer Aang up_. Andrew said to himself.

"Aang...if you want, we can stay for a day or two." Andrew offered.

"Great! I'll go tell Oyaji! He'll be so excited!" Aang said, bending an air scooter and riding off.

After Aang rode off, Sokka went in his direction "I'm gonna go make sure Aang doesn't forget to ask about Appa."

"Alright." Andrew confirmed.

Andrew turned and walked back down to the beach to see if the Kyoshi Warriors left his ruck in the sand.

About an hour later, Andrew was almost done combing the beach for his rucksack when out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a shadow move between a group of trees.

_It must be those Kyoshi Warriors trying to spy on me_. He thought, walking down the beach at the same pace. _Let's see if I can catch them off guard._

As Andrew walked down the beach, the shadow continued to move with him through the trees. It was obvious whoever was following him was an expert if they were able to do it silently without even crunching a leaf.

Seeing a small section farther down the beach with no trees, he came up with a plan. If they were going to follow him, his pursuer would have to come out of the trees to continue, and he would turn and confront them.

As he walked, Andrew noticed the shadow was slowing down. He guessed that they knew what was coming up, and didnt want to move at the same time as him.

When Andrew crossed over into the treeless section, he quickened his pace.

After walking about fifty yards, he turned around, and saw the figure standing in the sand. Just as he suspected, there stood one of the warriors, the woman who was questioning them based on the headress she was wearing.

"You!" He shouted, pointing a finger at the girl. "Why are you following me?"

She glared at him.

"I said, why are you following me?"

Silence.

Andrew walked over to her, until he stood a few feet away from the girl. "Why. Are. You. Following. Me?"

"Why are you here?" She asked, not answering Andrew's question.

"Dont turn this on me. You're the one following me around this island."

"This island is my home. You on the other hand, don't have any business here, other than being the avatar's companion."

"What is your problem with me? I haven't done a single thing wrong, and you want to feed me to a sea monster!"

"My problem is that you look just like all of the Fire Nation spies we've ever captured. Pale skin, dark black hair...its a wonder how your _friends_ don't notice it."

Andrew couldn't believe what she was saying. _Maybe she should know about my history with the Fire Nation_. "Well, the Fire Nation must love me for killing one of their sailors, threatening their prince, escaping one of their ships, and almost sinking it in the process."

Andrew's words surprised her, and she lost her threatening demeanor in favor of a curious one.

"When was this? Where did it happen? Why did they capture you? How did you almost sink a ship? How did you get close to their prince? Why did you kill a Fire Navy sailor?" She rapid fired questions.

_If she wants answers, she'll have to answer mine first. _"Before I answer your questions, why were you following me? And where the hell is my rucksack?"

The girl thought about how she would answer the two questions before she actually answered them. "I was following you to make sure you weren't trying to signal any ships, or doing anything that could harm the island."

"And my bag?"

"A few of my warriors took it to our dojo."

"Why is it there?"

"...Its, where we keep everything people who trespass on Kyoshi owned."

Andrew shook his head in disbelief. Throwing them to the sea monster wasn't a threat. "Then I want my stuff, then I'll answer some of your questions."

"Alright fine... follow me." She said, walking back in the direction of the village, which was now probably a mile down the beach.

* * *

When they reached the village, the woman took a left turn by the statue, and went straight into the woods with Andrew following close behind. After a minute or two in the woods, they came upon a wooden cabin in the middle of a small clearing.

The girl continued, slid open the door, and entered the cabin. When he got inside, he found his ruck laying empty near the door, with all of his gear on the floor, being picked up and messed with by the warriors.

Pushing past the girl who brought him, Andrew began to yell. "What the fuck are you doing?! That's my gear! You can't just fucking search m-"

BANG

TINK

A gunshot rang out, causing all of the warriors to drop the things they were holding, and cover their ears. Looking around frantically, Andrew saw the culprit. Standing across the room was a girl about half a foot shorter than him, holding his M4 in a death grip, her finger still on the trigger, and the barrel pointed at the door he was just standing by.

Andrew rushed over and grabbed the rifle out of her hands, and checking the safety. It was off the safety setting switch.

Not only had the girl somehow chambered a round, after undoing the safety. Even without any knowledge of guns, and she had also pulled the trigger, firing the weapon.

Andrew took the magazine out, flipped the safety on, and pulled the charging handle back, causing a round to eject out onto the floor.

He bent over, picked up the round, and put it back into his magazine, setting down his M4 in the process. After he got it in, Andrew slid the magazine into his pants pocket.

When he picked his rifle back up, Andrew looked back at the girl. She could tell he was practically foaming-at-the-mouth angry, and she knew she was due for a shouting at. "This is why you don't fucking touch people's shit! You could have fucking killed someone! God! You're so fucking stupid!" Andrew shouted at her.

The girl looked up at him for a few seconds, until tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, and she began to cry.

Andrew picked up his things, and began to stuff them back into his ruck, ignoring the hateful glares the girls were giving him. When he finished, Andrew slung his ruck over his shoulder, grabbed his IOTV by the collar, and walked out of the cabin to find a crowd of people running through the trees in his direction.

As he walked by them, he was relieved the people were ignoring him entirely, and instead were focused on seeing the girls.

"Suki? What happened? Suki, where are you going? Suki?" Andrew heard from behind himself.

"Hey!" A voice called out. It was the girl.

Just keep walking Andrew, she'll give up. Andrew told himself, walking back towards the village. "Hey! I'm not done talking to you!" She shouted again.

A hand grabbed him by his shoulder and spun him around, to face her. "What was all that?"

Andrew was too angry to talk and turned back around, ignoring her question. "Hey, don't you ignore me!...Fine!" She shouted, kicking one of Andrew's feet into the back of his other foot, causing him to trip and fall face first in the dirt.

He tried getting up, but she held him onto the ground. "I want answers, and you will give them to me."

Seeing as ther was no way to get out of it, he complied. "Fine..."

"Good. What happened in the dojo that made that loud crash?"

"That girl fired my M4."

"What is an M4?"

"An M4 is a rifle."

"That is a rifle?" She asked, pointing at the M4 laying in the dirt beside Andrew.

"Yes."

"What was the sound that came from it?"

Andrew rolled his eyes Apparently this world doesn't know what guns are. "A gunshot."

She thought about it before asking her next question. "Why are you here?"

"Aang wanted to ride the elephant koi, so we stopped here. Before we could leave, you jumped us."

"Will you tell me the rest of why you are here if I let you go?"

"Even if I don't tell you the _rest of the story,_ Aang, Katara, and Sokka will eventually come looking for me. And if I magically disappear after being seen with you, guess who they will come to question first. Your best bet to hear the story is to let me go."

The girl looked off into the distance, considering her options. Then, she took her foot off of Andrew's chest.

Andrew got up, grabbed his IOTV and his M4, and without warning, he bolted towards the village at a breakneck speed, with the girl following a dozen yards behind him.

When he got into the main village, he rushed towards the closest building he could find, which was a two story building. When he got to the door, he threw all of his weight into it, throwing the door open, and sliding into the middle of the room, where he regained his footing and looked back at the door.

The girl was charging right at the door. Moving as fast as he could, Andrew jumped over to the door, and slammed it closed. A massive weight threw itself against the door, pushing Andrew back a few inches, but the door ultimately stayed closed. "Open this door! You owe me an explanation!" She shouted through the door.

"No, I don't!" Andrew shouted back at the door.

"Andrew? What's going on?" A voice asked from behind him.

_Shit_. He looked over his shoulder and saw Katara, Aang, and Sokka standing in the center of the room. _If I tell them what's going on with the crazy girl outside, I'll probably be killed in my sleep._

"Nothing!" He said.

His words were followed by banging from the other side of the door. "Yeah, what's going on?" Sokka asked, walking towards the door.

The banging stopped, and Andrew tried to avoid the question. "I found my gear!" He said, taking their attention away from the door to his bag, and his IOTV laying on the floor.

"That's good! We found Appa was in the same spot from when we arrived." Aang said, sounding happy.

"The village elder, Oyaji, invited us to attend a feast tonight that's being held in Aang's honor." Katara said.

Sokka, who was now standing beside Andrew, nudged him out of the way to the door. When Sokka opened the door, the girl was gone. "Andrew, who was out there?" He asked.

"A, uh...dog...that was...trying to get in!" He finished. "It was just a dog."

Sokka looked at him skeptically, before accepting his obvious lie as a truthful answer. "I suggest you, Sokka, and Aang get cleaned up. The feast is just after sundown." Katara suggested.

Aang and Sokka let out a groan. "But we took a shower two days ago!" Sokka wined.

"Sokka, you smell like a wet polar dog pup! You need a shower!"

"Is there somewhere we can get cleaned?" Andrew asked Katara.

"I don't know, but you guys should go ask Oyaji." She said, in an annoyed voice. "I'm going to ask Suki where girls can get a bath."

She walked by the three boys and straight out the door. When she left, Andrew asked Sokka and Aang where Oyaji was. "Oyaji lives in the closest house to the statue of Kyoshi." Aang said.

Andrew set his rucksack down, along with his IOTV, but kept his rifle with him. "Is there a place I can hide my stuff in here?"

"You can put it in the upstairs room with my stuff." Sokka said.

Andrew hid everything of value underneath Sokka's sleeping bag before coming back downstairs with his Anorak and patrol cap.

"Aright, let's go then." Andrew told the two others.

"I'm not going, I took a bath a few days ago." Sokka said.

"Aang, you coming?" Andrew asked, turning to the boy in question.

"Sure. Let's go find Oyaji." Aang said, walking towards the door.

"See ya later Sokka." Andrew said.

* * *

When they found Oyaji, he was talking to a few other villagers about paint. "Oyaji!" Aang said excitedly, rushing over to the old man.

"Go make the paint, and come back when you are done." He told the villagers before turning to Aang. "Avatar Aang, good to see you. Is there anything you need?"

"Do you know where we can get baths?"

Oyaji looked from Aang, to Andrew, then back to Aang. "Yes, the bath house is down by the docks. When you get down to them, the largest building is the communal bath house. The men's bathing room is labeled, so it should be easy to find."

"Thanks Oyaji!"

"It is no problem Avatar Aang." Oyaji replied, looking at Andrew.

"Thank you Oyaji." Andrew said.

"Again, it is no problem for us to help the Avatar and his companions, uh..."

"Andrew, my name is Andrew." He said.

"Yes. Andrew." Oyaji said, bowing.

Andrew, confused as what to do, did the same. "We'll be going now." Aang said, heading towards the docks.

Andrew followed close behind the airbender, down to the docks.

* * *

Both Aang and Andrew finished their individual baths at around 18:22. After Andrew had gotten dressed, Aang and him made their way back to the large house at the end of the village.

When they entered, Katara was sitting at a low table with the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. "And after that, we landed here on the island."

The girl looked away from Katara, and saw Andrew and Aang standing in the doorway.

"What an amazing story. I'd love to stay, but it seems as if your friends are back, so I'll see myself out." She said, getting to her feet.

"Oh, alright. Then I guess I'll see you at the feast tonight ," Katara said to the head warrior. "Goodbye!"

With that, the warrior stepped out of the house, and went towards the village.

Andrew, suspicious as to why the girl was here, asked Katara. "Katara, who was that, and why were they here?"

"Oh that was Suki, head of the Kyoshi warriors. She came here with me to introduce herself properly this time, but everyone was gone, so we talked, and I told her about how we got here."

Andrew sighed. _Well, at least I don't have to answer any of her questions._

Andrew turned and went up the stairs to check if any of his things had been stolen or moved. His stuff was still under Sokka's bag, untouched. When he got back downstairs, Andrew checked his watch again; 18:35. Two hours until dark.

* * *

When the time actually came for the feast to start, Sokka appeared at the door. "Sokka! Where have you been? The feast is about to start, and you smell even worse than you did before!" Katara chastised him.

"Relax, if I smell that bad, I'll just skip it."

"You can't skip! The whole village went through the trouble of throwing this feast for Aang, so you are going." Katara commanded.

"If it's being thrown in Aang's honor, I don't have to go." Sokka explained.

"Sokka. You. _Are_. Going."

"Aang? Do you think I have to go? I mean; this feast is being held for you."

"Well...I don't want to force you to go, but at the same time I want you to go. So...it should be your decision."

"See Katara! Aang thinks it's my choice, so I choose not to go."

Andrew was standing a few feet away from the arguement, trying to avoid being included. "We should get going," he said, reading the time on his watch: 20:06. "Its 6 minutes past eight."

Everyone turned their attention to Andrew. "What?" Aang, Katara, and Sokka collectively asked.

"My watch say it's 8:06." He said, holding his wrist out for them to see his digital watch.

The three of them looked at Andrew like he was crazy. "A watch?" Sokka asked.

"It tells me the time of day. Right now its eight hours past noon."

"You've had something that tells the time for the entire time we've been traveling?" Sokka asked in disbelief.

"Yes...?" Andrew confessed in a confused voice.

"That could have helped us so many times!" Sokka said, throwing his arms up in exasperation.

"So what? We've managed to get this far without having the group use my watch, so there's no need to complain."

Sokka slapped his forehead, but kept his mouth shut. "Guys, shouldn't we leave? I don't think Oyaji would be happy if we didn't show up." Aang suggested, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Then let's go." Andrew said, brushing past the group to get to the door.

They didn't argue, and the three of them went down to the beach where the feast was being held.

When they got down there, Andrew was suprised to see about a hundred people sitting at tables spread out in a grid pattern. Every table was covered in different foods and drinks. Oyaji was sitting at the largest table that had five wooden chairs adorned with green silk.

To Oyaji's right were two empty chairs, and on his left was Suki, with two untaken chairs on her left side. As they got closer, Oyaji saw them, and stood. "Avatar Aang!" He called out, hurrying over to the group. "It is good to see you have showed up. You will be sitting next to me at the head table, while your companions may sit wherever they please."

Oyaji gestured to the head table, and took his seat in the most elaborately decorated chair Andrew had ever seen. Aang sat to his right, and Katara sat in the chair beside him. Andrew, tried to sit beside Aang, but Katara beat him to that particular chair, so he sat in the chair at the far left end of the table, trying to avoid Suki even by a single chair. Obviously she wasn't going to harm him in front of all of these people, but Andrew was more afraid about what she might say to the people attending the feast.

When he finally sat down, Oyaji stood to address the people sitting at their tables. "Friends, today we are here to enjoy this feast. We are not enjoying this feast to commemorate this season's catch, or to honor a fellow Kyoshi citizen. This feast is to honor Avatar Kyoshi's return to our island!" He finished, the crowd bursting into shouts of joy, and clapping.

Andrew looked down the table and saw Aang smiling at the attention the crowd was giving him, and just like Aang, Katara was also smiling. Moving his eyes back down to the table before him, Andrew noticed the different assortment of foods; rice, fish, eggs, a slice of bread, some grapes, and what looked like a duck. "Food not good enough for you?"

Andrew looked to where the voice had come from. Sitting beside him was Suki, still wearing her green uniform and makeup. "What do you want?" He asked in a snarky tone.

"I came to apologize." She told him, looking away.

"For the kidnapping? How about the stalking? Or the stealing? Oh, then you must have come to apologize for tripping, and chasing me?" One by one, Andrew counted the fingers on his right hand.

"You don't have to be a jerk about it."

"You tried to have me, Aang, Katara, and Sokka killed. Do you really think I'm going to be happy you decided to apologize the same day you tried to kill me?"

"I didn't think you would accept my apology, but I wanted to tell you I was sorry for accusing you of being a spy. After I heard the story of how you and your friends got to the island from Katara, I thought I had to make amends."

Andrew was stunned into silence.

She continued. "I misjudged you and your friends, and I felt guilty."

_Is she really trying to say sorry?_ Andrew looked directly into her eyes. "I'll accept your apology if you don't try anything ever again."

When she heard Andrew's terms, Suki looked glad. "Alright."

Andrew turned back to his plates, and began to eat the food in front of him.

**A/N: This chapter took way longer to write than I expected it to(I've had half of it written since Saturday of last week), but I've been studying for sophomore finals.**


	6. The Skirmish on Kyoshi Island

When the feast finished, Oyaji took Aang aside while Katara and Andrew headed back to the house.

As they walked, Katara tried to start a conversation with Andrew. "So, what do you think about the island so far?"

"Its alright..."

"I think we should stay and rest a few days."

"Katara, we already agreed to stay one day because Aang wanted to."

"When did we agree on that?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Me, and Sokka didn't want to stay because of how the people here wanted to kill us, and we told Aang who agreed to stay one day."

"But I didn't even get a say in it!"

"Katara, if you had been there, you would have agreed with us on staying one day." Andrew told her, crossing his arms.

The pair continued walking down the dirt road in silence, not wanting to talk to each other any more than necessary.

When they finally reached the house, Andrew opened the door and let Katara enter first. After Andrew came inside, they both exchanged 'goodnights' before he went upstairs to go to sleep. After getting to the top of the stairs, Andrew found Sokka's sleeping form laying on the floor in the middle of the room.

Looking around the large room for his stuff, Andrew found it in the same spot he had left it in before going to the feast. Walking over to his stuff, he grabbed his bag and unzipping it to retrieve his sleeping bag. When Andrew finished unrolling his bag, he stripped down to his thermal underclothes, and got in his bag.

Ten minutes later, Andrew was fast asleep.

* * *

"Hey, wake up." A voice said.

Andrew didn't move.

"Wake up, it's breakfast time." The same voice said.

Still, Andrew didn't move.

After a few seconds, he was shaken awake by the figure. "Hey! Fuck off, I'm trying to sleep!" He said, opening his eyes.

Standing over him was Sokka, and standing beside him were Katara, Aang, and six villagers carrying wooden trays covered in food. Pulling himself out of the sleeping bag, Andrew got to his feet, and began to put his uniform on while being watched by the people still in the room.

Once he was fully clothed, Andrew looked up from his boots and noticed that he was still being watched, not only by Aang, Sokka, and Katara, but the group of villagers as well. When he stood, Andrew saw a low table was now set near the window. "When did that get here?" He asked, pointing a finger at the table.

"Oh, the table got moved up here this morning. For some reason the villagers insist on us having breakfast up here." Katara explained, walking over to the table and sitting on her knees.

Andrew and Aang did the same, and Sokka sat against the wall. As soon as they were seated, the villagers began to put the trays they were holding on the table, and then went downstairs. When the last tray was set down, Aang looked at the food, and shouted in excitement. "All right! Dessert for breakfast! Andrew, you gotta try this." He said, thrusting a sweet roll towards the older boy.

"I don't know, I'm not really in the mood for something sweet." Andrew told Aang.

"I'll take it." Katara said, holding her hand out to take the roll.

Aang obliged, and she began to eat the food. Momo, hopped up on the table, grabbed as much food as he could carry and flew around the room, then underneath the table. Sokka on the other hand groaned loudly, getting everyone's attention.

Turning their heads towards him, they were shocked to see he wasnt eating any food. "Sokka, what's your problem? Eat!" Aang told him.

"I'm not hungry." He said, looking away.

"Sokka, you're always hungry. Eat something." Andrew told him.

Katara thought about why Sokka was being mopey, and raised her head in sudden realization. "He's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his ass yesterday."

"Hey! They snuck up on me!" He said, turning his body towards the others.

"You're right, and then they kicked your ass." She said, with a smug grin.

Sokka got to his feet. "Hey, sneak accounts don't count! Tie me up with ropes..." He said, the last part being mumbled.

Andrew laughed, and that got Sokka's attention. Approaching the table, he continued his rant. "I'm not scared of any girls. Who do they think they are anyway?" He finished quietly, taking a bunch of food, and heading downstairs.

"What's he so angry about? It's great here; they're giving us the royal treatment." Aang said, stuffing his face.

"Don't get too comfortable Aang, were still leaving the island later today." Andrew told the boy in question.

"Can we stay a little longer? I'm sure we'll be fine here. Besides, do you see how happy I'm making this town? They're even cleaning up the statue of Kyoshi in my honor." He told the two, turning to look out the window.

Down the village towards the docks was the statue, with two people repainting it. "Well it's nice to see you excited about being the avatar. I just hope it all doesnt go to your head." Katara said worryingly.

Andrew nodded his head in agreement. "Come on, you guys know me better than that. I'm just a simple monk." He finished, getting up and sticking his body out the window.

Outside there were squeals of excitement, making Andrew and Katara get up, and look out the window as well. Outside was a crowd of girls excited to see the Avatar. Looking over at Aang, Andrew saw his face was beet red from blushing. "I'm going to go see what's going on down there." Aang said, rushing down the stairs.

Continuing to watch out the window, Andrew and Katara saw Aang exit the house. But, as soon as he exited, the crowd of girls rushed him, making him flee down the dirt road towards the docks. "Well, there he goes." Andrew said, walking away from the window. "I'm going to see if they need any work done, I don't to want to take stuff for free."

Katara looked suprised. "Oh, alright...I guess I'll try to find something to keep myself occupied."

Andrew grabbed his patrol cap out from the bottom of his ruck, and noticed that his helmet wasn't in the bag. _What the hell? Where'd my helmet go? _After kneeling over his bag for about a minute, he knew where it was: he forgot it in the Kyoshi Warriors' dojo.

Obviously Andrew was reluctant to go back because of yesterday, but if Suki was willing to apologize, the other warriors would mind if he went to get it back. Andrew nodded his head in confidence, put his patrol cap on, and went downstairs, leaving Katara standing there in confusion.

When he reached the door, he went outside and in the direction of the dojo.

* * *

When he reached the dojo, he stopped to figure out what to say in case he was confronted. "You're just here to get your helmet." _It's the truth, but why am I so nervous?_

Shaking his head, Andrew went towards the door, but stopped when he heard a yell, and then a hollow thud. Sliding the door open, he heard laughter, and then Sokka's voice. "That does it!"

Opening the door wider, Andrew saw Sokka rush Suki, swinging his fist towards her head. Using her forearm, she redirected his punch, grabbed his arm, and spun him around twice before going in the opposite direction. Sokka screamed, Suki stopped spinning him, grabbed his belt, and used it to tie his right leg to his left hand, before letting go of him.

Sokka hopped forward a few times before tripping and falling face first onto the wooden floor. Suki approached his half sprawled out form, and opened her mouth. "Anything else you want to teach us?"

The whole room broke out into a chorus of laughter, and Sokka turned red in embarrassment.

Andrew would have laughed too, if he wasn't shocked. He had never seen anyone do something like that, so he needed a moment to compose himself. When he finally did, he was amazed by what Suki did all by herself.

The girls stopped laughing when they noticed him standing in the door. Suki followed her subordinates' eyes and looked towards the door. "Well, what are you here for?"

Sokka looked over to the door, and flushed an even deeper shade of red, before looking away. "I came to look for my helmet. I accidentally left it in here."

Looking around the room, Andrew saw his helmet in the corner, beside one of his magazines_. I guess it wasnt just my helmet I forgot_. He thought walking over to his helmet, and magazine. He picked the magazine up and stuffed it into his pocket, then he grabbed his helmet and stood up. "Take your friend with you on your way out." He heard Suki say.

Andrew rolled his eyes before walking over to Sokka and untying him. They got up, and walked over to the door, with Sokka refusing to look at Andrew. When they got outside, Andrew grabbed Sokka by his shoulders, and turned him so they could face each other. "Sokka, what the hell was that?"

"..."

"Sokka, why were you fighting them?"

"I...thought I could teach them a lesson about jumping us." He said, still refusing to look Abdrew in the eyes.

"Sokka...no offense, but...you aren't exactly good fighter material." Andrew told Sokka, who looked crestfallen. "And fighting Suki, who looks like she's been training her whole life, isn't a good choice in general."

"But I just wanted to show them that I wasn't weak..."

Andrew tried thinking of a solution to Sokka's, but nothing really came to mind, sohe offered advice instead. "If you train hard enough, someday you might be just as good as them."

Sokka looked down at the ground but looked up in determination. "If training is an issue, I know what I can do. Thank's Andrew." He said, walking back towards the door.

_What did I say that was so helpful?_ Andrew wondered, turning back towards the dojo.

He stared the building down before curiosity got the better of him. When he reentered, Sokka was getting on his knees. "I would be honored if you would teach me." He said, looking down at the wooden floor.

Suki crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Even if I'm a girl?" She said with malice.

Her eyes looked up from Sokka's kneeling form, and went to Andrew, who was looking down at Sokka. "I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier. I was...wrong."

She looked back down to Sokka and spoke. "We don't normaly teach outsiders, let alone boys."

Sokka looked up at Suki with begging eyes. "Please make an exception. I won't let you down."

She looked back up at Andrew, who was looking right back. _Please teach him_, his look told her. After seeing Andrew's expression, she glanced back down at Sokka. "Alright. But, you have to follow _all_ of our traditions."

"Of course!" He said, looking up at Suki.

"I mean _all_ of them." She said with a smirk.

Sokka got to his feet. "I'll do anything you tell me."

"Good. Girls, get a spare uniform out, and the facepaint." She commanded.

The Warriors began to laugh amongst themselves. A few of them went to a large chest in the corner of the room, and began to grab things out of it. When they returned from their errand, they were carrying a bunch of jars, and a uniform the same as the rest of the warriors wore.

Andrew approached Sokka and stood silently behind him.

* * *

After about an hour of perfectly painting his face, and ten minutes of dressing Sokka in the uniform the Kyoshi Warriors wore, Suki dismissed her subordinates when they finished. The only people left in the dojo were Suki, Sokka, and Andrew, who was trying his best not to break down laughing. "Do I really have to wear this? It feels a little, I dont know...girly?" Sokka asked.

Suki, broadly smiling told him yes. "Its a warriors uniform. You should be proud to wear our uniform. The silk thread symbolizes a brave blood that flows through our veins, the gold insignia represents the honor of a warrior's heart."

Hearing that, Sokka stood up straight, puffed out his chest and put his fists on his hips. "Bravery and honor."

"Hey Sokka, nice dress!" Aangs voice called out.

The three of them turned, and saw Aang standing a few feet behind Andrew. He turned, and walked back towards the village, before Andrew followed right behind him. "Aang, where have you been?"

Walking and talking, Aang replied. "Oh, I've been with Coco and her friends all day."

Andrew was confused. All day? He checked his watch; it was only 11:56. "Who's that?"

"Coco is one of the girls I met earlier today." He said, smiling.

"So what are you up to now?" Andrew asked, kicking a rock.

"I'm looking for Katara, because I'm going to tell her I'm going to ride the Unagi."

Andrew stopped walking. "Aang, don't."

"Why not?" Aang said, continuing to walk down the path towards the village.

"Aang, trying to ride that thing is practically suicide! You'll get yourself killed!" Andrew said, catching up to Aang.

"I won't get hurt, I'm the avatar."

"Aang, I know I can't stop you, but I want you to reconsider this. You might die!" He said, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. If you want, you can come and watch." Aang said, stepping out of the forest and into the village.

"Obviously I'm not going to let you do something this stupid alone."

"Its not a bad idea." Aang said, opening the door to the house.

"Yes it is! You just don't think it is." He said, closing the door behind himself.

They both went upstairs, Andrew, looking for his rifle, and Aang, looking for Katara. On the second floor, Katara was sitting down, practicing her waterbending, and against the wall behind her was Andrew's rifle leaning against his bag.

Andrew walked past Katara, and over to his bag while Aang started a conversation with her. "Katara? Remember how the Unagi almost got me yesterday?"

"Yeah." Came her reply.

Andrew set his helmet down, picked up his rifle, and walked back over to Aang. "Well...I'm gonna go ride it now. It's gonna be real dangerous."

"Good for you." She replied in a flat voice, still bending water out of a clay pot.

Andrew was suprised she would let him, but didn't voice it. "You're not gonna stop me?" Aang asked, taken aback.

"Nope. Have fun."

"I will."

"Great."

"I know its great."

"I'm glad you know."

"I'm glad you're glad."

"Good."

"Fine!" Aang shouted, making Katara drop her water.

Aang turned and walking away.

Andrew stood in confusion, and Katara turned to look at him. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing..." she said, crossing her arms and turning away.

Andrew decided to leave it alone, and go follow Aang.

* * *

16:29.

It had been about four long hours of Aang waiting in the ocean for the Unagi, but it hadn't shown up, and Aang was still out in the water.

Andrew was sitting on the beach with his rifle, ready to provide Aang a distraction in case things got out of hand. But, for the last thirty minutes, the only sounds made near the beach was the crowd of girls' sighs of boredom, and Aangs reassurances the Unagi would show up. "What's taking so long?" One of the girls asked.

"I'm sure it'll be here any second!" Aang shouted towards the shore.

"Umm, how about this?" Aang said, taking his hands out of the water.

He spun two marbles around in his hands using aribending, but it didn't entertain the crowd of ten year olds sitting on the shore. "Not that again. Boring!" Another one of the girls said.

"Where's the Unagi? It's getting late!" The one from earlier said.

The crowd got up, and began to walk away. "Where are you going?! Don't leave!" Aang called out.

"Sorry Aang, maybe next time!" Coco called out.

Disheartened, Aang began to submerge his body, but rose out of the water when he saw something. "Katara! You showed up!"

Hearing who he called for, Andrew turned around and saw Katara walking towards him. "What are you doing here?" Andrew asked her.

"I wanted to make sure Aang was safe. What he said he was doing had me worried."

"Alright." Andrew said.

Approaching the shore, Aang called out. "But Katara, back there, you sounded like you didn't care."

Katara lowered her head in shame. "I'm sorry..."

"Me too. I did let all that attention go to my head. I was being a jerk." Aang told her.

Andrew, not wanting to interrupt their apologizing, stayed quiet. "Then get out of the water ya great big jerk!" Katara shouted playfully.

Andrew stood up when he saw Aang begin to swim back. He was ready to head back to the house and prepare to leave the island. Andrew was turning around and to leave when he heard Katara gasp, so he turned righ back around to see a massive black and red fin poking out of the water.

The Unagi.

The fin dived, and the Unagi's body lifted Aang out out of the water a hundred feet into the air. The Unagi's head raised out of the water and snarled, before shooting a massive jet of water put of its mouth at Aang. Andrew lifted his rifle, and aimed at the Unagi's head, firing five times. Due to the sheer size of the Unagi, all rounds were on target and hit the serpent in it's gold colored gills, causing it to reel back.

After it regained its composure, the Unagi lurched at Aang, who jumped and caught onto one of its whiskers, making Andrew stop his shooting for fear of hitting Aang. The Unagi began to thrash around, swinging Aang around. "Hang on Aang!" Katara called out.

With one final thrash, Aang was thrown a football field's distance away, in the water near the beach. When his body resurfaced, he was floating face up.

Andrew set his rifle down, and rushed out into the water, with Katara right behind him. Andrew reached the unconscious airbender first, and pulled him back towards the shore by his chest. Suddenly, the Unagi resurfaced in front of them. When it lunged at them, Katara grabbed Andrew, pulled her arm back, and sent it forward, causing them to be shot back towards the beach. Skipping off the water, they were sent into the sand behind a rock formation.

The Unagi let out a screech, and began to blast jets of water into the surrounding area before diving back into the water and swimming away.

Andrew got to his feet as quickly as he could to retrieve his M4. "Wait!" Katara shouted at him.

Andrew turned around, and looked at her. "What?" He asked.

"Help me get Aang out of here."

"But I..." He trailed off, seeing a black ship move across the water behind her.

Katara turned around, and saw what he was looking at. "Zuko."

They watched the ship stop farther down the beach, few yards away from the shore before dropping its ramp, and unloading large animals. "Katara, you take Aang back to the village. I need to go get my gear." Andrew told her before he turned and climbed over the rocks, and ran towards where he left his rifle.

When he did reach his rifle, he brushed all of the sand off of it, and ran straight towards the village. After a minute of running, he made it to the statue and began to shout on his way to the main house. "The Fire Nation is here! The Fire Nation is here!"

People began to look out of their homes, and saw Andrew running and warning them. Finally coming to the house they were staying at, Andrew ran upstairs, put on his IOTV, then his helmet, and put on his rucksack in record time. When he finished, he sprinted down the stairs, and headed towards the stables where Appa was.

* * *

After loading his rucksack on to Appa, Andrew rushed towards the Kyoshi Warriors' dojo. Running through the forest, Andrew collided with a figure, and they were both thrown onto the ground. "Geez Andrew, what the hell was that for?" Sokka's voice said.

Andrew looked up from the dirt and saw he had collided with Suki. "I came to warn you guys; Zuko is on the island." He told them in an alarmed voice.

"Then let's go get my warriors." Suki said, standing up off of the ground.

Sokka held his hand out for Andrew, and pulled him up. "Where are they anyways?" Andrew asked.

"We have a planning spot a little bit outside of the village in case of an attack. Follow me." Suki said, running off into a thicker section of the forest.

* * *

After a short period of planning an ambush on the invaders, Suki told everybody to get in their spots in the village. Andrew had been positioned inside of Oyaji's house, and was told to wait until the soldiers passed him to start his attack. "Come out avatar! You can't hide from me forever!" He heard Zuko shout.

Peeking out of the cloth curtain that went over the window, he saw Zuko on what looked like a rhino with horns, and six others mounted on three of the beasts.

When nobody answered, Zuko commanded his men to do a village wide search. One by one, the soldiers passed by Oyaji's house, but Zuko remained by the statue of Kyoshi.

THUD THUD THUD

There was the signal.

Andrew closed the curtain, and went outside just as the Kyoshi Warriors began their assault. Three of the warriors on the village roofs, jumped off and knocked the spike helmeted soldiers off of their mounts, leaving the regular foot soldiers on. Andrew put two rounds into one of their mounts, causing the beast to fall over on its rider, crushing him to death.

He cringed at the sound of breaking of bones, but continued to fight. One of the warriors grabbed a soldier's spear, and flung him off of his mount. One of the soldiers with a spiked helmet got up, and punched the air in Andrew's direction, causing a ball of flames to shoot out of his fist and hit him in the chest, knocking him over.

The firebender threw another ball of flame at Andrew who rolled out of the way. Getting up as fast as he could, he sent a round in the man's general direction. It missed, but caused the man to jump back when the wooden post beside his head sent splinters of wood shooting out at his face. That gave a window of opportunity to Andrew, who aimed at the man's helmet, and pulled his trigger.

The bullet went straight through the thin layer of metal, and straight into his head, killing him instantly. His body crumpled onto the ground and didn't even twitch, so Andrew turned and headed towards the shouting behind himself. "Nice try avatar, but these little girls can't save you!" Zuko shouted.

Andrew lifted his rifle, preparing to shoot Zuko, when he saw Aang standing farther down the street. "Hey! Over here!" Aang shouted.

Zuko turned, and saw Aang. "Finally."

Zuko sent two blasts of fire at Aang, who twirled his staff, dissipating the flames. Aang spun his staff above his head, and jumped the fifty yards that separated him and Zuko. Seeing that they were way too close for him to get an accurate shot, Andrew lowered his rifle. Zuko sent volley after volley of fire at Aang, who always evaded each blast, sometimes even sending an whirlwind at Zuko.

Avoiding a ball of flames, Aang jumped into the air, did a double backflip, and came back to the ground where he grabbed a set of gold fans. When he had a firm grip on the twin fans, Aang twisted his body to the side, and sent a massive blast of air at Zuko, throwing him through the walls in one of the huts.

After he finished battling Zuko, Aang grabbed his glider, and flew off towards the house at the end of the dirt road. Seeing Aang run off, Andrew went to look for Sokka, Suki, and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors. Farther down the dirt road, one of the warriors was hit by a fireblast, and knocked off of her feet. Rushing over to protect her, Andrew changed his fire rate, and sent two bursts of bullets at the soldiers. One was hit in the leg, causing him to fall over clutching his leg, and the rest of the bullets missed.

Now that he was close enough, one of the firebenders sent a fireblast at Andrew who ducked behind a building. "I treated you like a girl when I should have treated you like a warrior." He heard Sokka's voice say.

Going around the burning building to investigate, he saw Suki and Sokka kneeling next to eachother. "But I am a warrior..." She said, leaning in to kiss Sokka on the cheek.

Andrew grabbed Sokka by the collar, and dragged him away from Suki. "Let's go Romeo!" He said, pulling Sokka to his feet. "You can fuck later, but right now it's time to fight!"

"Hey!" Sokka shouted at him, turning a shade of red.

Suki did as well, and stood up. "I'll hold them off! You guys get out of here!" She told the boys, before running into the street.

Andrew and Sokka ran around the back of the houses until they saw Appa's tail in the space between the villager's houses. "Over here!" Andrew told Sokka, turning to run towards Appa.

They got on Appa's back, and Sokka told Aang to take off. "Appa, yip, yip!" Aang shouted.

Appa followed Aang's command and began to fly upwards.

A minute after they took off, the group was high above the ocean, looking back on the burning village. "I know it's hard, but you did the right thing." Katara said, trying to reassure Aang. "Zuko would have destroyed the whole village if we had stayed. They're gonna be okay Aang."

Instead of speaking, Aang jumped from Appa's head towards the water below. "What the fuck is he doing?!" Andrew screamed, watching Aang fall.

After a couple of seconds, Aang hit the water. Everyone aboard Appa was shocked at Aang's actions. Even Momo looked worried. Then, the water surged upward, and revealed the Unagi, with Aang holding on to it's whiskers. After a second of being tossed around, Aang got a foothold on the serpent's head, and pulled the whiskers back. The Unagi let out a screech, and sprayed a massive jet of water at the village, dousing the burning village, and putting all of the fires out.

Aang used airbending to jump towards Appa, who dived down to catch him, not needing any direction to do so. When Aang got into Appa's saddle he addressed the group. "I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous."

"You're right, it was." Katar said, bringing Aang into a hug.

Aang smiled, then blushed.

**A/N: Two people PM'd me about a 'missing' chapter they were notified about, and it was an error on my part. I accidentally uploaded a 95% finished Ch. 6, and deleted it when I noticed my fuck-up. So, I apologize to anyone who was notified about a nonexistent chapter.**


	7. A Crazy King and A Lavish City

After two days of flying, Aang had finally told the group where their next stop would be; the city of Omashu. Three days after being told of their destination, Aang landed Appa on a hill, a thirty minute walk away from the city.

Not wanting to be left defenseless, Andrew brought his rifle, and his rucksack. The latter, being uncomfortable as it was much heavier than normal; carrying the supplies Katara had brought from Kyoshi. But now that they were away from the south pole, Andrew was glad about leaving his baggy grey and white camouflage pants cover.

"The Earth Kindom city of Omashu!" Aang shouted holding his arms put towards the city.

Sokka, Katara, and Andrew all looked up from the ground. A mile away on a mountain top was a massive stone city with four large pyramids poking out from behind it's walls. Leading to the city was a long jagged path that went across the valley between the mountains.

"I used to come here to visit my friend Bumi." Aang said, stopping to appreciate the view for the first time in a hundred years.

"Wow...we don't have cities like this in the south pole." Katara told Andrew and Aang.

"They have buildings here that don't melt." Sokka said in astonishment.

"It looks like something straight out of a movie." Andrew said in amazement.

"Well, let's go slow pokes! The real fun is inside the city!" Aang said, using his airbending to boost himself down the snowy hill.

"Aang, wait up!" Andrew shouted at him.

Aang slid to a stop, and turned around. "Aang, it could be dangerous if people find out you're the avatar." Katara told him.

Sokka stepped towards the edge of the hill. "Aang, you need a disguise."

Aang looked up at the group standing above him in confusion. "So...what am I supposed to do then? Grow a mustache?"

"That's exactly what you need. Come up here, we're gonna make you a disguise." Sokka instructed.

Aang jumped back up towards the top of the hill, and landed beside Andrew. "Sokka, how is Aang going to grow a mustache?"

"We use Appa's fur." He answered, pulling two large handfuls of loose fur from Appa's side.

He put the two handfuls of fur on the ground, and continued to grab loose fur until there was a large pile on the floor. After he was done grabbing the fur, he climbed onto Appa and began to rummage through the bags until he found a rope, and jumped down.

"Alright Aang, hold still."

Sokka brought a bundle of Appa's fur and set it on top of Aang's head. "Hold this for a second."

Aang did as he was told, and held the fur above his head, allowing Sokka to tie the rope around the bundle of fur, keeping it in place. "Now we just need something to hold his 'mustache' in place...do any of you guys have anything sticky?"

"I think I might have some electrical tape in my ruck." Andrew said, taking his ruck off and digging through it. After a few seconds he produced a roll of black electrical tape. "If we rub the sticky side on his upper lip, some of the adhesive might rub off."

Sokka stepped aside and pet Andrew rub a small strip of tape on Aang's lip. When his upper lip was sticky enough, Andrew stepped away from Aang. "That should be enough."

Sokka stepped forward and started to put the fur in the adhesive.

"There, I'm done." Sokka said, backing away from Aang.

Aang swished his makeshift mustache from side to side, and then scratched his head. "Ugh, this is so itchy. How do you live in this stuff?" He asked Appa.

Appa looked over at Aang and blew air out of his nostrils, right in Aangs face. "Now you look just like my grandfather." Sokka told Aang.

"Technically, Aang is 115 years old." Katara said, crossing her arms.

"Now let's get to skippin' young whippersnappers!" Aang said, twirling his staff before hunching his back and walking away.

The three others traded confused looks before following Aang towards Omashu.

* * *

About fifty yards away from the entrance Aang stopped the group. "You guys are going to love Omashu. The people here are the friendliest in the world."

"W-" Andrew began, but was interrupted.

"Rotten cabbages?!" Sombody shouted, causing the group to look away from Aang, and towards where the voice was coming from.

Standing farther up the narrow path were three soldiers, and a man with a cart full of cabbages. "What kind of a slum do you think this is?!" One of the soldiers shouted, crushing a cabbage between his hands.

The soldier stomped twice, and threw his arm forward, bending the stone underneath the cart upward, throwing the object off the path and into the valley below. Seeing that, the old man rushed over to the side of the path. "MY CABBAGES!" He called out.

Aang, Sokka, Andrew, and Katara all looked over the side of the path into the valley below. "Aang, I thought you said the people here were the friendliest in the world." Andrew said, returning to the middle of the path.

"Just keep smiling." Aang said, walking towards the guards.

The three others followed him as he approached the gate. After coming a dozen or so feet away, one of the soldiers bent a boulder from the path, and held it above Aang's head. "State your business!" He ordered.

Aang closed the gap between himself and the soldier in the span of a second, and began to poke the soldier's chest. "My business is my business young man, and none of yours! I've got half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside!" He shouted in an old man's voice.

The soldier dropped the boulder beside Katara, Andrew, and Sokka, causing them to be sent off the ground by a few inches.

"Calm down old timer! Just tell me who you are." He said, backing away from Aang's accusing finger.

Aang leaned forward on his cane, and gave the soldier the stink eye. "Name's Bahnzu Pippinpaddlepopsacopolis III, and these are my grandkids." Aang told the guard, pointing back at the three people behind himself.

Katara walked foward until she was right behind Aang. "Hi. June Pippinpaddlepopsacopolis, nice to meet you." She said.

The soldier groomed his beard in indecision. "Uh, you look like a responsible young woman. Make sure your grandfather stays out of trouble. Enjoy Omashu." The soldier told them.

The soldiers cleared room for the four strangers to pass. Aang, followed by Katara, then Andrew, and Sokka, led the way towards the gate, which was being opened by two of the soldier's earthbending. "Wait a minute." One of the soldiers said.

Turning around Aang, Andrew, and Katara saw one of the soldiers holding Sokka by his shoulder. "You look like a strong young man. Your brother is carrying a load of bags, so why aren't you?"

With a nervous look, Sokka opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by the guard. "Respect your elders, and carry your grandfather's bag."

"Good idea." Aang said, unslinging his bag, and throwing it at Sokka.

Sokka caught the bag, and they headed through the split stone wall, into the city.

Inside were hundreds of houses carved into the mountainside, with massive slides built above and around them. Inside the slides were stone bins sliding down towards a distribution center below them. In the center, earthbending soldiers bent the bins, up into square tubes, and sending some onto different slides that lead underground. "This is the Omashu delivery system: miles and miles of tubes. Earthbending brings the packages up, and gravity brings them down."

"Great. So they get their mail on time." Sokka said, looking over at Aang dismissively.

"They do get their mail on time. But, there's also a better use for these chutes. Follow me, I've got an idea." Aang said, leading them towards a stairway.

_'I should probably get rid of some of my less useful equipment_' Andrew thought. "Aang wait."

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to look around for a market. When you're done with whatever you're doing meet me back here at the gate."

"Alright. We'll meet back here when we're done." Aang explained before turning around and leading the group up a staircase.

Andrew watched the trio walk away before turning in the opposite direction to find somewhere he could sell some of his things.

Looking around, Andrew was amazed by the architecture and overall size of the city. _'For a city that looks like it came out of ancient China, it's a wonder how these people managed to build all of this.'_

As he was walking around, Andrew started to notice all of the people staring at him. Wherever street he would take, some people would stop and stare, and others would take a glances, then continue on with their business.

Taking a left down an alleyway, then a right, Andrew found himself in the back end of a crowded marketplace. Dozens of stalls lined the walls, and hundreds of people were walking around looking at the stalls' wares. Andrew looked up at each sign, trying to find a vendor that would buy the things he wanted to sell.

To his disappointment, each of the signs had Chinese characters, instead of English letters. '_Th__ey speak English and write in Chinese? What the hell is going on with this place?'_

Giving up looking at the signs for answers, Andrew walked up to the nearest vendor who wasnt selling any food. "Hey, do you buy things from other people?" He asked.

The vendor, a rather plump old man with no hair smiled and leaned on the counter to get closer. "I don't usually buy things from potential cutomers, but depending on what's being sold, I might."

"Alright, I've got some stuff that I need to get rid of." Andrew said, shifting his rifle into his left hand before taking his ruck off.

Andrew opened his bag, and started to rummage around. Avoiding the supplies Katara brought from Kyoshi, along with any of his useful gear, he began pulling things out and setting them on the vendor's table. A broken compass, a three feet of parachute cord, two sticks of gum, a pack of cigarettes (an item he carried for the rest of his squad), one of his notepads, a plastic bic lighter, and a green sharpie out of the plastic case that held several more.

Then he dug into his IOTV pouches, and pulled out more items: five zip ties, and a bag of sour skittles that he quickly stuffed back into the pocket he pulled it out of. "Here's all of the things I'd like to sell."

The vendor eyed all of the items before picking up the two sticks of silver wrapped gum. "What is all of this?" He asked.

"That's a stick of gum, it's kind of like food, but its only for chewing."

"Why can't you eat it?"

"Well I suppose you could eat it...but it's mainly for giving your mouth something to do."

"What is the rest of this?"

"These are cigarettes, they're for smoking, this lighter," he said picking up the pack and lighter," is for lighting fires." After explaining what they were for, Andrew took a cigarette out of the almost full pack and gave it to the vendor to put in his mouth.

"So this is like a pipe?" He asked, putting the cigarette up to his mouth backwards.

"Yes, but you've got it in backwards."

The vendor corrected his mistake, and put the cigarette in his mouth the right way. "I've never seen flint and steel that looked like that."

"Its not really flint and steel, but it works way better, see?" Andrew flicked the top side of the lighter, and it produced a small flame.

The vendor was shocked at how easily the fire was made and quickly grabbed a small chest from underneath the counter. "I'll give you three silver pieces for it."

Andrew was confused, but accepted the offer. "Alright, but are you going to buy anything else?"

"If everything else is as promising as this...what do you call it?" He asked, looking away from the lighter.

"A lighter." He told the vendor.

"I'll give you a gold piece for everything else." The vendor told Andrew, pulling a golden coin out of his strongbox.

'Is he really offering gold? Doesn't he know how expensive the stuff has become?' Andrew thought, nodding his head in agreement. "I'll take it." He said, holding his hand out.

The vendor handed him one gold, and three silver coins before taking everything on the counter and putting it along side his other wares. "It is a pleasure doing business with you, my friend."

Andrew put the coins in one of the pockets on his chest, before picking his ruck up, and walking away.

* * *

After about twenty minutes of going stall to stall, looking for food, Andrew bought two apples for a silver piece, and was handed back four copper pieces. He was unsurprised that the money he kept in his wallet was useless, but he paid with the coins given to him by the vendor.

After buying some food for himself, Andrew found a place to sit amongst a group of low stone tables.

_'I wonder what everyone else is doing_.' He thought to himself, taking a bite out of one of the green apples he had purchased.

Immediately after finishing his thought, a stone bin full of people flew down a chute at an incredible speed.

Seeing the chute go by, Andrew dropped his apple and ran over to the railing, where he and another man were looking down in the direction the chute went.

"What was that?" The man asked.

"I don't know," Andrew told him, "But I'm gonna go find out." With that, he raced down a nearby stairway in the direction the chute went.

Street by street, stairway by stairway Andrew ran in the general direction the bin went until he changed his course to follow a group of green clad guards running in the direction the bin went.

They went left, down and empty street, then took a right past a blacksmith, then left down an extremely long street.

As he tailed the guards, he noticed more and more joining the running group until they came to a stop, and Andrew nearly ran into the backs of the halted guards.

Looking over the shoulders of the crowd, he saw Aang, Sokka, and Katara laying beside a heap of broken wood, cabbages, and stone chunks. Aang got up first and rubbed his head. "Two cabbages please..." he muttered, before being grabbed by two of the guards.

"Aang!" Andrew said, pushing through the crowd of assembled guards.

One of the guards stepped in front of his path, and put his hand on Andrew's shoulder, stopping him. "Do you know this boy?"

"Yes, he's my friend." Andrew replied, once again trying to get to Aang, only to be pushed back a bit.

"Well your friend is being brought in front of the king for his crimes." The guard explained. "Unless you want to be brought to the king, I suggest you leave."

"Then I'll go before the king." Andrew said with a look of determination.

As the rest of his friends were led away, the guard held out his hand for Andrew's things. "Then give me your belongings, and we will go."

After taking his ruck, IOTV, and rifle, the guard brought him to his commander. "Captain Kijun, I have their friend who gave himself up. He agreed to be brought before the king."

Captain Kijun, and older man whose uniform had a golden coin insignia on his uniform signifying his rank, looked him up and down. "Then bring him along." He said, the other guard grabbing Adrew's arm and leading him in the direction the others were going.

* * *

As they entered the palace, Captain Kijun, who was holding Andrew, stopped the group just outside of the palace's main hall. "All of you will be silent in front of the king, and only speak when spoken to. Is that clear?"

The four teenagers nodded their heads, and Captain Kijun nodded for the guards stationed at the door to let them in.

As the massive wooden door was opened, the group was in awe at the main hall's appearance. The room was massive, with green banners and luminescent crystals mounted on the walls, the latter of which was lighting the room in a green glow. At the end of the hall was a massive insignia similar to the one adorning Captain Kijun's armor, carved into the wall, with the king sitting in his stone throne.

As they were led to him, they were stopped and put on their knees just before the same insignia in the carpet that went from the door to the throne. Captain Kijun stepped forward. "Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, and malicious destruction of cabbages."

"Off with their heads!" The cabbage vendor shouted, practically dancing in anger, "One head for each cabbage!"

"Silence!" Kijun shouted. "Only the king can pass down judgment. What is your judgment, sire?"

The king, an extremely old man wearing massive green robes with a feather plume cap, leaned forward and inspected the four teenagers.

Hearing Sokka's mutterings for mercy, Andrew turned his attention to his right. Sokka was muttering, Katara had a look of pleading on her face, and Aang was looking at the floor in disappointment. The king's voice got all of their attention, and the looked towards him with worried faces. "Throw them..."

They all held their breaths in anticipation.

"...a feast"

Captain Kijun had a look of annoyance, the cabbage vendor was shocked, and the four friends were confused.

"As you wish, your majesty." On of the guards standing beside him said, waving one of the servants over. They talked for a few seconds before the servant moved to stand before the king.

"The feast will be ready in a few moments, sire." He said, before speed walking towards another door.

"To the dining hall then." The king said, before standing and walking in the opposite direction the servant went.

Then Andrew, Katara, Sokka, and Aang all got up to follow the king and his guards.

* * *

Andrew checked his watch for the third time.

_16:43_

It had been 13 minutes since he, Aang, Katara, and Sokka had sat down to dine with the king. The food had just been brought in, and Momo was jumping around the table eating anything he could find, while the king walked circles around the table.

Each time he passed, the group of teenagers tensed up, in fear of what he might do behind their backs. After his fifth time passing, he stopped and put his hand on the backs of Katara and Andrew's chairs.

Leaning in close to Aang's face, the King spoke for the first time since they had entered the dining room. "You know, the people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts. So, I hope you like your chicken with no skin." He said, picking the chicken leg up from Aang's plate and bringing it to the boy's face.

Aang pushed the chicken away lightly and looked back to the King's face. "Thanks, but I don't eat meat."

The King leaned over towards Andrew, and brought the leg up to his face. "How about you, young man? I bet you like meat." He said, then shoved the chicken leg into Andrew's mouth when he opened it to speak.

The leg hit the back of Andrew's throat, causing him to reel back and spit the chicken leg out, before erupting into a fit of violent coughs and gags. The King looked suprised, and began to pat Andrew on the back. "I'm sorry for that. I hope you'll forgive me."

When Andrew stopped coughing, he nodded his head, and reached for his glass to take drink from it. After a few drinks, he recognized it as wine, but continued to drink nevertheless. When he was finished, the King patted his back one last time. "Better?"

"Yes." He replied.

"Good." The monarch stated, before walking back to his side of the table.

Katara leaned over towards the others. "I think this guy's crown is a little crooked." She said, spinning a finger around her head.

The King's voice brought their attention back to his end of the table. "So tell me young bald one; where are you from?"

"I-uh...I'm...from...Kangaroo Island." Aang answered, in a voice that said it was an obvious lie

The King looked totally unfooled. "Kangaroo Island you say...I hear that place is really hopping." He said, leaning forward in anticipation of a laugh.

Andrew slapped his forehead, and Sokka broke out in an extremely forced laugh. "Ahahahaha..." Katara and the others glared at him. "What? It was pretty funny..."

The King stretched out before yawning. "All of these jokes have made me tired. I guess it's time to hit the hay..." The King said, leaning over to one side of his body.

Without any warning, he moved forward and threw a chicken leg at Aang, who instinctively caught it in a ball of air. All the guards in the room gave a collective gasp, and the King addressed the room. "There's an airbender in our presence, and not just any airbender; the Avatar!"

The King stood up, and Aang, trying not to incriminate himself any further, dropped the leg and put his hands underneath the table. "Now, what do you have to say for yourself Mr. Pippinpaddlepopsacopolis?"

Aang looked from side to side before pushing his chair back and standing up. "Okay," He said, putting his hands up, "You caught me. I'm the Avatar...doing Avatar things; keeping the world safe. Everything checks out," he looked under the table, then back at the King. "No firebenders here. So...good work everybody!"

Aang grabbed Sokka, Katara, and Andrew, bringing them into a standing group hug. "Love eachother, respect all life," He said, bringing the trio towards the dining hall's door, "And don't run with your spears!" Aang told the guards at the door. "We'll see ya next time!"

The guards rolled their eyes and blocked the exit, forming an 'X' with their spears, stopping the four teens in their tracks. "You can't keep us here!" Katara and Andrew shouted at the king.

"Let us leave!" Sokka shouted.

The King looked down at his plate, picked up a lettuce leaf, and lifted it up for them to see. "Lettuce leaf?" He asked, taking a bit out of it.

Sokka turned to his companions and whispered. "We're in serious trouble, this guy is nuts!"

Andrew slapped Sokka in the chest. "No shit Sherlock!"

"Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges...but for now, the guards will show you to your chambers."

One of the king's guards leaned over to speak with the king. "My liege, do you mean the good chamber, or the bad chamber?"

The king turned to his guard. "The newly refurbished chamber."

The guard, stroked his beard. "Wait, which one are we talking about?"

"The one that used to be the bad chamber, before the recent refurbishing that is... of course we've been calling it the 'new' chamber, but we really should number them..." With that, the King stood and shouted for the guards. "Take them to the newly refurbished chamber that was once bad!"

With their new orders, the trio of guards brought the group down a different hall, towards a dead end.

At the end of the hall, one of the guards stomped, and a door was made of the moving stone. The other two guards used the shaft of their spears to shove them inside. With a rumble, the door behind them quickly slid shut.

Looking at the octagonal room they found themselves in, the group were amazed on how luxurious it was. Three beds, a bowl of fruit, crystal lamps mounted on the walls. "This is a prison cell? But it's so nice."

"Well, the King did say it was newly refurbished." Andrew said, inspecting the room.

"Nice or not, we're still that guy's prisoners." Sokka said in mild anger.

"I'm worried about these challenges he's gonna make me do." Aang confessed, looking down at the floor.

"Well, we're not gonna stick around long enough to find out. Look around the room, there's bound to be some way out of here." Katara said, feeling the walls for a way out.

The group looked around for several minutes before Aang called out. "The air vents!"

The others looked to where he was pointing; a hole in the wall about six inches in diameter. "Aang, if you think we'll fit through that hole, you're more crazy than that King."

"Aang, I hate to agree with Sokka, but he's right. Theres no way we could fit through there." Katara told the monk.

"We can't fit, but Momo can." Aang explained to the group.

Momo, who was laying on one of the beds licking an apple, looked up at the mention of his name. Aang walked over to the flying lemur, and put his face a few inches away from Momo's. "Momo, I need you to go and find Appa so he can bust us out of here."

Momo gave Aang a look of confusion. "Andrew," Aang said, turning to face the older boy. "I need you to go get that chair."

Andrew followed Aang's finger over to a chair on the opposite side of the room, and went to retrieve the object in question. While Andrew was getting the chair, Aang picked Momo up, and made his way towards a section of the wall that had an air vent.

Andrew set the chair down beside Aang, who then climbed onto it and pushed Momo into the air vent. Momo went about half a foot in before Aang stopped pushing. "Come on boy, get Appa!" He encouraged, taking his hands away from off the lemur.

Momos struggled, but instead of trying to get further in the vent, he put his hind legs on the wall, and pushed himself out.

Sokka, bored with Aang's shenanigans, laid back on one of the beds. "Just give up Aang. How was Appa supposed to save us anyway?"

Aang, frustrated put his hands on his hips. "Appa is a 10-ton flying bison. I'm sure he could figure something out."

Katara made her way over to one of the beds, and began to get under the covers. "Well theres no point in arguing about it now. Get some rest Aang."

Andrew, noticing there was only enough beds for three of them, decided to let Aang have the last one. "You need to be rested enough to complete those challenges, so get some sleep." Andrew told the bald boy, gesturing to the bed. "You can have the last bed."

Aang glanced over to Andrew before laying down on the bed. "Alright, but where are you going to sleep?"

"Don't worry about me. I've slept in worse places."

Aang nodded, before closing his eyes.

After a few minutes of silence, both Sokka and Aang began to snore.

'If Aang can't complete those challenges, we're screwed.' Andrew thought, taking a seat against one of the walls.

Andrew glanced at his watch before he closed his eyes.

_18:37. 'Eleven hours until morning'_

* * *

**_A/N: I have decided to start this story again much sooner than I expected. Due to quarantine, and several issues related to my brother and grandpa's passing, my friends and some of my family members suggested I do something to occupy my mind. After a bit of prodding, a close friend of mine suggested that because I enjoyed writing this story, I should continue writing O&N, so I have her to thank for getting me writing again._**


	8. The Avatar's Four Labors

A low rumble shook Andrew awake before he was dragged backwards. "Hey, w-" He tried to shout, but a gloved hand clamped down over his mouth, silencing him. Looking up, he saw Captain Kijun standing over him. "Don't say anything. The King wants to see you and the Avatar's other friends."

In fear of what Kijun might do to him, he nodded his head in agreement. Seeing this, Kijun nodded to the other soldiers beside him, and kept his hand over Andrew's mouth. The two guards moved into the room, and did the same thing to Sokka and Katara, who complied with their orders.

When the trio was secured, they were brought into the main hall, where the King was waiting. "Good job, Captain Kijun. Bring our guests into the spiked cavern tunnel, and wait until I tell you to give them their _gifts_."

"Yes, your majesty." The guards said in unison.

The King's robes moved slightly and a door opened up in the wall, and the guards brought them into the room. As soon as they were inside, the door closed behind them. "Why won't you let us go?" Katara asked.

"Until the King says you may go, you will stay." Kijun replied, tightening his grip on Andrew's arm.

"Why does he want us to stay?" Sokka questioned.

"It isn't our place to question his orders, so we won't." The guard holding Sokka told him.

"Why wo-" Andrew began, but was interrupted by the door they were brought in through, reopening.

The king was standing in front of Aang who was glaring daggers at him. "-So I will give your friends some special souvenirs."

The guards holding the trio pulled out crystal rings from their tunics and put them onto Sokka, Andrew, and Katara's right hand pointer fingers. "Those delightful rings are made of pure genamite. Also known as creeping crystal, on account of how fast it grows when it is wrapped around objects." The king explained.

As Andrew, Katara, and Sokka tried in vain to get the rings off of their fingers, the king continued. "By nightfall your friends will be completely covered. A terrible fate really. I can stop it, but only if you cooperate."

As he finished, Andrew felt a tingling sensation on his finger, and found the crystal had already covered a part of his knuckle. "Shit! Its already moving!"

Looking up to Aang for help, Andrew saw Aang turn to face the crazy king. "I'll do what you want..."

The king smiled and turned towards the tunnel Katara, Andrew, and Sokka were standing in. "Then follow me, young Avatar."

* * *

Andrew was becoming more and more worried. In the time it took for them to get to the end of the tunnel. His, Katara's, and Sokka's right hands were now completely covered in crystal.

At the end of the tunnel, was a room covered in stalactites and stalagmites, with a massive waterfall in the center of the room. Inside the waterfall was a chain with somethinghaning on it, and underneath the chain was a metal ladder sticking out of stone. "Avatar, you will go wait down there." the king said, pointing to a flat platform in the far corner of the room.

Using airbending, Aang propelled himself over to the platform, and landed without making a sound. Seeing Aang had landed, the king leaned over the balcony rail.

"Uh oh! It seems I've lost the key to my lunchbox, and I'm getting really hungry!" He shouted down at Aang. "OOH, there it is! Would you mind fetching it for me?"

After a few moments of silence, Aang jumped out into the field of spikes; hopping and bounding from the tops of the stalagmites towards the waterfall. When he reached a stalagmite at the foot of the waterfall he used his airbending to propel himself in a spiral motion, straight into the rushing water.

Aang moved his way up the rock holding the ladder, the water trying its hardest to push him down towards the spikes below. But with one final push, he threw himself onto the bottom rung of the ladder, holding on for dear life.

Watching it play out, the king leaned back in mock amazement. "OOH, climbing the ladder, no one's ever thought about that before."

Aang clung to the bottom rung for a few extra seconds before attempting to reach the next rung. The push from the water however, forced his grip to release, and he was forced out of the falling water towards the spikes below.

"AAAAAH!" Aang cried out.

"AANG!" Katara, Andrew, and Sokka shouted.

Aang caught himself on two stalagmites, and braced himself between them, sliding down but stopping before he could be impaled by a third. Aang looked up, and saw the relieved looks his friends were giving him.

Their smiles gave him a boost of confidence, and he air bonded himself up towards the stalactites above, bracing himself just as he did a moment ago. Aang stayed braced between the spikes and contemplated his next move before spiraling head first into the falling water. He was pushed downward, missing the key by a few feet.

Once again, he was thrown out of the water, and collided with a particularly large stalagmite, falling backwards before he latched onto the massive spike. The king cackled in amusement. "That's right! Keep diving head in! I'm sure it'll work eventually!"

Andrew glared at the king and stepped forward, only to be held back by Captain Kijun, who gave him a look of warning. Turning his attention back to Aang, he saw the younger boy break the top of a stalagmite off, and lift it above his head like a javelin. Rearing back, Aang launched the stalagmite at the water.

Using a controlled air blade, the air sliced the water, giving the projectile just enough time to break the chain and send the two objects hurtling at the group watching his challenge. Andrew braced for impact while everyone standing beside him froze in shock. The broken stalagmite's point stuck through a chain link, and pierced the wall, holding the whole chain a few inches above the king's head.

"There! Enjoy your lunch, but I want my friends back now!" Aang shouted.

The king looked down at Aang, and put on a mocking voice. "Not yet. I still need help with another matter; it seems I've lost my pet Flopsy."

* * *

While the king led the group to his menagerie, Aang was becoming angrier and angrier with the king. He didn't voice his anger, but everyone knew it was there. But Andrew was more focused on the fact that the crystal was now covering the majority of his torso, and was beginning to grow upwards towards his head. "I don't mean to put any pressure on you guys, but can we hurry this up?"

"We're getting to the menagerie as fast as we can, so hold your ostrich-horses." The king told him.

Andrew blinked in confusion. '_What the hell is an ostrich-horse_?'

No long after the king spoke, the group rounded a corner and arrived at the gold engraved door to the king's personal zoo. "Here we are." He said, throwing the doors open.

The menagerie was a massive dome roofed room, with a huge pit in the center, and cages full of exotic animals all over the room. "Where do you think Flopsy would be?" Aang asked, looking around the room.

The king strolled over to the edge of the pit, and pointed down into it. "He should be down there." The monarch said, sounding as annoying as possible.

Andrew rolled his eyes and Aang jumped into the pit, in search of the lost animal, only to find the animal was sitting on a rock a few yards away from where he landed. "Okay, found him!" He announced, turning to face the group of people standing above him.

"Bring him to me! Daddy wants a kiss from Flopsy!"

Andrew and Sokka looked over at the king; who was leaning over the stone barrier, grinning mischievously. Turning to face each other, they both gave a face that said: 'Something's definitely wrong'. As they gave their attention back to Aang, the bushes beside him shook violently before a massive goat/rabbit like creature jumped out behind Aang. "AANG, RUN!" Katara, Sokka, and Andrew shouted.

Aang turned around, and saw the massive abomination behind him, before he made a move for the opposite side of the enclosure. Seeing the boy getting ready to run, the beast lifted itself onto it's hind legs before swinging both hands out in an attempt to crush Aang. The boy in question jumped out of the way, causing the animal to crush a small boulder. The smaller goat-rabbit ran past Aang, who turned to go after it. "Flopsy wait!"

Aang chased the animal about a dozen yards before the beast behind him took off after himself, closing the distance between the two in a matter of seconds. Aang followed Flopsy, and took a ninety degree turn. The turn caused the beast behind him to stumble and fall in an effort to turn. Noticing where the king's pet was headed, Aang dove after Flopsy, but the animal was too quick and made it into the small hole in the wall.

Aang slid a few feet before his arm was rammed into the hole, and the rest of his body collided with the wall. Aang didn't move for a few seconds, while the beast sprinted directly towards him. He got up and watched as the beast charged him, muttering something everyone else couldn't hear. When the animal was a few feet away Aang raised his hands and shouted: "Flopsy?"

A cloud of dust enveloped them both, and everyone else in the room waited to see the boy's fate.

When the dust finally cleared, the beast stood in front of Aang, panting and wagging it's tail. It grabbed Aang, and lifted him towards its mouth, giving him a massive lick. From across the pit, Andrew saw Aang smile before hugging the beast. "Flopsy!"

Beside the group of teenagers and guards, the king whistled for Flopsy before making a few loud smooching sounds as if he was calling a dog. Flopsy ran towards his master before jumping up towards the platform thirty feet above, clearing the rail and landing on all fours. Then, Flopsy leaned back and chrashed onto the ground exposing his stomach for a belly rub. "Whose a good boy? You, yes, you're a good boy." The king said, rubbing Flopsy's stomach.

As Andrew and Sokka watched the exchange with their mouths open in shock, Aang jumped up onto the stone barrier. "Are you guys okay?"

The two older boys looked over at Aang. "Besides crystal slowly encasing my body, I'm doing great." Katara replied.

Aang turned his attention to Sokka and Andrew, whose crystals both grew at almost the same time, Andrew's new crystal formation blocked the view in front of him, and Sokka's new formation put extra weight on one of his sides, causing him to lean over and fall onto the stone floor. "Woah!"

"I can't see!" Andrew yelled, backing into one of the guards behind himself.

"Watch it!" The guard shouted, pushing Andrew forward.

"Can one of you help me?" Andrew asked, trying in vain to look around the crystal in front of his face.

Captain Kijun walked over to Andrew and turned his head to the side so the two of them could face each other. "We aren't allowed to remove it, so I'll guide you around if you would like me to."

Knowing he had no other choice, Andrew agreed. "Fine. But, just make sure I don't fall over, like shit-for-brains over there."

Kijun smirked, but Andrew wasn't able to see him do so. "Captain Kijun, escort our guests to one of the arena's viewing balconies." Andrew heard the king command.

"As you wish, your majesty."

* * *

The walking time between each challenge was longer than the challenges themselves, giving the crystal attached to each teenager's body time to grow.

Entering the arena, Andrew was struggling to walk forward without the use of his eyes, so Captian Kijun was extremely helpful when Andrew came close to falling or tripping over things. "Here is the palace arena." Kijun announced to the three teenagers he was escorting.

By turning himself ninety degrees, Andrew was able to see the arena over his left shoulder. The room itself was in a large rectangular shape, having stone stands carved into the walls, with pillars holding the roof up, and providing the different stand sections distance between each other. The stands were also built above the arena, allowing the crowds six feet of room away from the fighting below. The main attention grabber however was a massive circular skylight that illuminated the entire room, with ornate carvings of people and symbols Andrew didn't recognize.

Turning another ninety degrees, Andrew saw Aang and the King enter the viewing box adjacent to himself and his friends. "Aang!" He shouted, stepping as close to the railing as possible.

Startled by Andrew's voice, Aang turned his attention away from the king, and towards his friends. "Hey guys." The young airbender said, waiving towards them.

Katara, and Sokka smiled, but couldn't return the gesture. "I'd wave but..." Katara trailed off, looking at the crystal that went from her shoulders down to her ankles.

Sokka was in a similar state, the crystal growing from the middle of his calves, to all around his head, exposing his face. "Same here."

Another small sound was emitted, and Andrew felt the crystal behind his head grow, sandwiching his head between the crystal in the front of his body, and the new crystal that formed on the opposite side. "Goddammit!" Andrew shouted in anger. "Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse!"

Andrew was pissed that his head was stuck in place, was calmed down after remembering Sokka's crystal was growing in almost the exact same way as his, though he still muttered a string of angry curses.

"Avatar." The king said, causing everyone to look at him in anticipation. "Your final test will be a duel. And, as a special treat; you may choose your opponent.

_'A duel_?' Andrew thought, trying to adjust himself to the king's movements.

The king did a small wave with his hand, and two men stepped onto the viewing platform from the tunnel behind him. One, a tall and skinny man with a two scars running diagonally across his face, had a scythe like weapon with a pair of katanas strapped to his back, and a bladed gauntlet theat reminded Andrew of the almost eighty year old Nightmare on Elm Street movies.

The other, a barrel chested behemoth with a green loincloth and spiked armor plates, carried a single dane axe with a spiked ball on the end of the handle. "Point to the opponent you wish to duel." The king told Aang with a devilish smile.

Aang, looked down at the floor in contemplation before returning his gaze back to the king. "So...your saying; whoever I point to...that's who I have to fight?"

"Choose wisely." The king said with a nod.

Aang looked between the two potential opponents. "I choose...you." He said, pointing at purple clad king.

"Wrong choice." He said with a smirk.

With a few grunts, the king straightened his back, and stood at his full height before throwing his robes off, putting his extremely muscular body on display. If Andrew had to guess, the king's full height was a inch or two over seven feet tall, towering over Andrew's six foot tall frame. He was wearing green shorts with a leather belt that had stone studs, and bracers with a similar look.

"Holy shit..." Sokka said out loud, saying what everyone had on their minds.

The king stomped, forming a pillar underneath Aang, sending him crashing onto the floor in the middle of the arena, before jumping after the boy. "You thought I was just a frail old man. But I'm the most powerful earth bender you'll ever see!"

Aang got to his feet before pointing back up to the viewing box he was just thrown out of. "Can I fight the guy with the axe instead?"

"There are no take-backsies in my kingdom. Though, you might need this."

At his word, one of the guards beside Andrew moved forward, and threw Aang's staff at its owner. Aang caught his weapon, and brought it in front of his body, taking a defensive stance.

His opponent, pulled a string of six boulders out of the ground, and sending a volley of the large rocks at Aang, who either dodged or blasted them away from himself with air. "Tsk. Typical airbender tactics; avoid and evade!" The king said, bringing another boulder out of the ground beneath him. "I was hoping the Avatar would be less predictable!"

The earthbender sent the rock barreling towards Aang, who jumped high into the air, keeping himself aloft by spinning his staff like helicopter blades. "What, no surprises for me? Eventually you'll have to strike back!" The king shouted, sending another boulder at Aang by kicking the massive object like a soccer ball.

The rock missed, and crashed into the ceiling above the floating airbender, showering him in debris and ultimately bringing him crashing onto the floor in a cloud of dust, and throwing his staff a few dozen yards away near the opposite end of the arena. "Aang!" Katara called out, putting more of her weight on the stone rail.

When he got up, Aang used his airbending to speed up his charge at the king, who walked forwards awkwardly, each step putting a stone pillar in front of Aang's path. He dodged five of the pillars before one formed below his feet, throwing him into the air. "You'll have to be a little more creative than that, young avatar!"

Before hitting the ground, Aang formed an air scooter and piloted it towards the king at a frightening speed. Repeating the same trick, the earthbender pulled a few pillars out of the ground, trying to stop Aang's advance, only for the airbender to guide his air scooter along one of the walls seperating the stands from the pit.

Making a slicing motion with his arm, Aang sent a powerful air blast towards the king, who formed a rock wall to protect himself. When the air collided with the stone, a loud crack similar to a gunshot could be heard. After the blast dissipated, the king stuck his head out from cover. "Did someone leave a window open? It seems to be a little drafty in here. Are you hoping I'll catch a cold?"

Andrew rolled his eyes at the kings jokes, but continued to watch the two fight it out.

Pushing the wall onto the ground, the earthbending king climbed on top of it, and formed a large pile of rocks underneath. Then, he leaned forward and sent a massive wave of broken rocks at Aang, who tried to jump over the rocks, only to hit and thrown backwards.

Skidding to a halt at the end of the arena, Aang stood and jumped back onto the wall behind him, away from a path of stone spikes trailing back to his opponent. Flipping twice, then landing beside his staff, Aang picked his staff up, and took the same stance he had at the beginning of the fight. "Now, how do you expect to get me from all the way over there?"

With a yell, Aang charged at the king, who let him get to the center of the arena before throwing his arms in a low arch. The move turned the ground beneath Aang's feet into quicksand, and he quickly sank up to his waist. While Aang was struggling to escape, the king brought his hands in a slow upward motion, as if he was lifting something, and two boulders at least three times as big as the ones before, were lifted out of the stone.

Mimicking the earthbender's hands' movements, the boulders were brought together above Aang, who was trying to wiggle free. As the boulders were brought down, a huge dust cloud covered the area, hiding even the boulders that created the cloud.

_'Aang, no..._' Andrew thought, closing his eyes.

When Andrew reopened his eyes, nothing inside the arena was moving except for the dust cloud resettling on the ground, becoming smaller and smaller each second. Nobody spoke, and the room was as silent as a crypt. Even the king looked suprised by what he had done, and took a kneeling position, muttering something nobody was able to hear clearly except a few faint whispers.

"HAAAAAAAAA!" A massive gust of wind blew the two boulders apart. One flew into the stands, shattering stone pillars and destroying seats, while the other went straight for the king, who had only a moment to put up a defense.

He erected another small stone wall, but the stone was too thin to completely stop the projectile. When the boulder collided with the wall, the massive rock smashed it to pieces, and threw the king against the wall behind him. "Alright, enough games!" The king shouted, taking a wide but firm stance.

The floor to the arena started to shake, and cracking could be heard all around the room. Putting both hands out, one clenched in a fist, and the other making a backwards L shape, the king slowly pulled his hands in opposite directions. A deafening crack could be heard, and the main viewing box was pulled out of the wall, and lifted into the air above the king.

Andrew's jaw dropped, and Aang let out a shout of suprise, before starting to run in a circle, picking up loose dirt and dust from around the room. _'What the hell is he doing?!'_ Andrew asked himself._ 'He's gonna get himself killed_!'

The young airbender ran for a few extra seconds before his opponent threw the massive stone structure at him. As the viewing box flew threw the air, Aang's running finally revealed what he was doing; a miniature tornado was forming in the center of the room, picking up debris and depositing it into walls, the ceiling, pillars, and deep into the ground. When the viewing box came into contact with the tornado, it was spun around, and thrown at the king.

The earthbender realized his mistake, and knew it was stand or die, so he stuck two arms above his head, and clasped them together. As the box came within twenty feet, he swung his arms down, and split the object in two, being brought to his knees by the amount of effort it took him to split the viewing box.

Aang leaped out of the cloud of dust covering just over half the arena, and landed in front of the kneeling monarch, placing his staff an inch away from his face.

Seeing how the fight played out, Andrew felt like jumping up and cheering, but when he tried to move his body, he remembered that the action was impossible when one was incased in crystal.

'_Right_.' Andrew thought, turning red in embarrassment._ 'I'm still stuck...'_

Looking back down towards the pit, Andrew noticed the king hadn't moved at all from his kneeling position. But instead of having a look of defeat, Andrew was confused to see him smiling. "Well done Avatar. You fight passionately, and that is something I wouldn't expect from an airbender."

The king stood, before falling backwards onto the ground, but instead of hitting the floor beneath him, a hole opened up, and swallowed him. "Where'd he go?" Sokka asked, trying to look farther over the rail.

"Looking for me?" A voice cut through their confusion.

The trio turned around as fast as they could manage, and saw the king standing in the viewing box with them. "How'd you get up here?" Katara asked the monarch.

"Earthbending."

Before they could ask any further, Aang landed between his friends and the king. "Congratulations young Avatar. You've passed all of my tests. Now, the only thing left for you to do; is answer one final question."

Aang pointed his staff at the kings chest, and the guards standing on in the box with them moved closer to their king. "That's not fair, and you know it! You promised to release my friends after I finished your tests."

The king rolled his eyes, and waived his hand dismissively. "Oh, but what's the point of having tests if you never learn anything from them?"

"Oh come on!" Sokka shouted. "That's so dumb!"

"This is my city, so you will follow my rules." He said, "Now, in order for you and your friends to leave, you must tell me; what is my name?"

Aang looked up at the king and shook his head. "I don't know..."

"Well, you better figure it out. From the looks of it, your friends are running on borrowed time." He said, turning and walking down the tunnel, flanked on both sides by a guard.

The only person who stayed was Captain Kijun, who watched the group silently beside the rail.

"How am I supposed to know his name?" Aang asked his friends, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe you should think about the challenges he made you do. Maybe it's some kind of puzzle he wants you to figure out." Katara suggested.

Andrew thought about Katara's suggestion before voicing his agreement. "I think Katara's right. There has to be a similarity in the challenges."

"Guys, I've got it!" Sokka said in excitement.

"He's an earthbender, right?" The others nodded their heads. "'Rocky'!...You know, because of all the rocks!"

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and I bet you think his last name is Balboa, don't you?" He asked, getting confused looks from the others. "You know, like from Rocky IX?"

The others still didn't get his joke. "Never mind."

"Well Sokka, we're gonna keep thinking, and keep it as a backup." Katara told her brother.

"Guys focus! If I don't figure out what his name is, you guys will..." Aang trailed off, but the three others knew what he meant. "Now, I got a key from a waterfall, I 'saved' his pet, and I had a duel."

"Think about what you learned from all of that." Andrew told him.

"Well...I guess, everything was different than I expected..."

"And...?" Katara asked, trailing off when the crystal around her grew, and began to push against her cheek.

"They weren't straightforward...To solve each of the tests, I had to think differently than I usually would." Aang said, rubbing the underside of his chin. "Wait! I figured it out! Let's go!" Aang shouted in excitement, before turning and running down the hallway.

Seeing that their friend had taken off without them, Captain Kijun sighed. "Knowing how fast you three walk, I'll bring you three to the king before you get completely incased."

The captain stomped, and all three of them were lifted off the ground. "You're an earthbender?!" The three teens shouted in suprise.

"You don't get the rank Captain of the Guard with being an earthbender." He said, bending them down th hall at the same speed he was running.

* * *

When they finally made it to the throne room, the bottom half of Andrew's face was almost completely covered in crystal, as well as the rest of his body. The only parts uncovered were his nose and his eyes, allowing him to see, and barely breathe.

Aang was standing before the king, who was now dressed in the green robes they first saw him in. "-As you said a long time ago; I had to open my brains to the possibilities."

The king broke out into a fit of laughter, and Aang smiled as well. "Bumi, you're a mad genius."

Aang ran over to Bumi, and they both hugged eachother tightly. "Oh Aang, I've missed you so much. I've grown old, and you haven't changed in the hundred years you've been gone." Bumi said with a mix of both happiness and sadness.

By now, Andrew, Sokka, and Katara were shocked at the turn of events, but their main goal was to get the potentially lethal crystal off of them. "Little help over here?" Katara asked.

"Oops, I forgot about that." Bumi said, clenching his hand into a fist.

The crystal broke into hundreds of tiny Crystal's flying everywhere. Bumi grabbed a piece out of the air and bit off a piece. "Genimite is made of delicious, and expensive rock candy."

Andrew massaged his neck before bending down, and grabbed one of the larger crystals, after noticing Momo on the ground beside him, licking a crystal. "Hey Momo, how ya doin'?" Andrew asked, reaching out to pet the flying lemur.

Momo jumped on his shoulder, and Andrew brought his attention to Katara when she asked Bumi a question. "So this crazy king...is your old friend Bumi?"

Bumi frowned. "Who are you calling '_old_'?"

Nobody said anything and Bumi smiled. "Okay, I guess I am pretty old."

"How old are you?" Andrew asked, tasting the chunk of genimite he was holding.

The blue colored genimite tasted similar to raspberries, a childhood favorite of Andrew's, so he continued to lick it while Bumi answered. "I'll be a hundred and thirteen in a month"

Andrew was suprised by Bumi's confession, but Sokka interrupted any other question Andrew had. "Why did you do all of those things instead of telling Aang who you really were?"

"First of all; it's pretty fun messing with people." Bumi said with a small chuckle. "But I did have a reason."

Bumi turned to Aang, and got on one knee to be at eye level. "Aang, you have an extremely difficult journey ahead of you. The world has changed drastically in the hundred years you've been gone. But it's the avatar's duty to defeat Firelord Ozai, and bring balance back to the world."

Aang nodded his head, and Bumi continued. "You have much to learn, Aang. Once you have mastered all four elements, you must confront the Firelord and bring this war to an end."

Aang clasped his hands together and bowed. "I promise I will."

Bumi nodded before turning his attention to Andrew, Katara, and Sokka. "And, I looks like you're in good hands. You'll need your friends to help you against the Fire Nation."

Momo startled Andrew by suddenly hopping off of his shoulder, and onto Aang's, looking at Bumi. "Most importantly, you'll also need Momo."

Momo chirped in response, while Aang spoke. "Bumi, before we leave, I have a challenge for you."

Trying to get a word in before Aang led them somewhere else, Andrew chimed in. "Before we go anywhere, could we get our stuff back?"

"Why of course. Captain Kijun, if they brought anything in with them, bring their belongings back." Bumi said, following Aang to the door.

"Yes sir. You three," He said, pointing at Andrew, Katara, and Sokka. "Come with me to the storage room, and then you can leave with your belongings."

* * *

Heeding Bumi's advice, Andrew placed the five double wrapped plastic bags full of genimite chunks into his ruck, careful not to have them touching anything that was once, or is alive for too long. Otherwise, it would grow until the thing was broken or removed. When he finished putting the chunks away he turned to Aang, who was sitting alongside Andrew, playing with Momo. "Where are we going next?"

Aang to his attention away from momo, and turned to Andrew. "We head north, and try to reach the Northern Water Tribe."

"Alright. Well, as much as I know you enjoyed the rest of the day with Bumi, we still lost a few extra hours of travel."

"Sorry." Aang said sheepishly, turning away.

"I'm not mad or anything. In fact, I'm glad you got to see one of your pre-war friends. It's not every day that you get to see someone you knew." Andrew said solemnly.

Aang noticed Andrew's tone, and was about to ask him what was wrong when Sokka stumbled into the clearing with Katara. "You guys ready?" Andrew called out.

They nodded their heads, and climbed onto Appa. "Alright, I'll get us up in the air." Aang said, sitting on Appa's head. "Yip, Yip!"

With a low groan, Appa lifted into the air.

* * *

_**A/N: I asked one of my cousins in Washington who's good at art, to draw me a picture based on a vague description I gave him, and he drew what is now the cover image for this story.**_


	9. Dinner With the Kino's

Andrew sat leaning against fallen tree beside Appa, when he noticed Sokka walking back to the camp they had set up. As Andrew watched Sokka walk back, his stomach grumbled.

The small amounts of genimite he had eaten over the last few days hadn't provided any real nutrition, so he had stopped eating after the first bag, and started saving it and the unopened bag of Skittles, as a treat for himself and Momo.

"Get anything good?" Andrew asked, picking his rifle up and moving away from his spot near Appa.

"Not really." He responded, walking towards Katara and Aang, who were sitting in between the walls of a rock formation.

"You know, I can help you hunt. It may be a bit noisy, but I'm sure I could get a few animals if we saw any." Andrew offered, walking faster to match Sokka's pace.

The only reason Andrew hadn't gone on any hunts with Sokka, was because the older boy insisted he wanted to do it himself. "We haven't starved yet, so I think I'm fine hunting on my own." Sokka said, getting a sigh out of Andrew.

"Well, consider it the next time you go out."

Sokka waved a dismissive hand at Andrew before hopping over the small stream that ran through their camp.

Sitting a few paces away were Aang and Katara, the younger of the two was sitting on a rock, sending small bursts of air at a butterfly. Seeing Sokka had returned, Aang jumped down from the rock he was sitting on, then kneeled next to both Sokka and Andrew, who leaned his rifle on a nearby rock.

"What's for lunch?" He asked.

Sokka opened his bag, and began to pull handfuls of small nuts out. "We've got a few options; brown nuts, oval shaped nuts, and a few rock shaped nuts... although, these might just be rocks."

Sokka grabbed the nut that looked like a rock, and tried to bite into it to confirm his suspicion. "Yeah, that's a rock." He said, throwing it behind himself.

"Sokka, next time you go out to get food, I'm coming with you." Andrew said, picking one of the nuts up off the ground. "If you keep feeding us the berries and nuts you find laying around, we're going to starve."

"Sokka, Andrew is right. If we eat only small things, we're going to be hungry all the time." Katara said, picking one of the nuts up and inspecting it.

"Don't worry Sokka, me and you can both be vegetarians together." Aang assured Sokka. "I like n-"

A loud crash cut Aang off, and the ground shook beneath the four teens' feet.

Everyone looked up from the nuts Sokka had foraged, and looked around for the source. "What was that?" Sokka asked, getting to his feet.

"I don't know." Katara responded, mirroring her brother's actions. "Aang, jump up and see if you can spot anything."

Aang followed Katara's instructions, jumping high into the air, and spun a full three-hundred and sixty degrees. "I don't see anything.."

Rubbing the back of his head nervously, Sokka suggested a plan. "Maybe we should look around for wherever the crashing is coming from. Whatever is causing the shaking is bound to be nearby-"

Another crash shook the forest, and Andrew got up from his kneeling position, grabbing his rifle from its spot a few feet away. "Its coming from over there!" Aang called out, pointing a finger and running in the direction the crashes came from.

Andrew and Katara both ran after Aang, while Sokka hastily put the nuts back in the bag before he followed. "Wait for me!" He called after them.

About a hundred yards away, the group of four stopped behind fallen tree in a large creek bed. Farther away was a long haired boy around Sokka and Andrew's age, earthbending stones into the creek bed walls. Andrew brought his rifle into a ready position on top of the log, in case of the boy attacking.

"He's an earthbender." Sokka pointed out, pulling his boomerang out of the leather sheath strapped to his back.

"Let's go meet him!" Aang said excitedly. "He could be my earthbending teacher!"

"He looks dangerous, so be c-" Andrew began, before Katara jumped over the log, and ran in front of the barrel of his M4.

Andrew quickly pulled his rifle down from the log, while Katara called out for the boy. "Hi, I'm Katara! What's your name?"

The boy dropped the rock he was bending, before turning around and running away. The rest of the group jumped over the log and ran after him, but the boy bent the creek bed walls into a barrier between himself and the others.

Seeing the boy collapse the creek bed walls, Andrew stopped his pursuit. "I just wanted to say 'hi'." Katara said, turning around to face her friends.

"Do you guys have any idea why he ran?" Andrew asked the group.

"No, but he has to going somewhere near a village, and I bet that village has a market." Aang said.

Katara clasped her hands together, and looked up at the sky as if she was thanking a god. "And that means no nuts for dinner!" Katara said.

Aang and Katara both broke off running in the direction the boy went, while Andrew and Sokka were left standing.

"Hey, I worked hard for those nuts!" Sokka said, scowling.

Andrew put a hand on Sokka's shoulder, and comforted him. "I know Sokka, but only eating stuff you find in the woods isn't healthy." Andrew said, turning to run back to camp and grab his ruck.

* * *

As Andrew entered the village, it wasn't hard to spot Aang, Katara, and Sokka. They were the only ones not wearing the greens and browns the villagers wore. Andrew's parka was completely white, while his IOTV's fourty year old camouflage pattern was a mix of both tan, green, brown, with flecks of grey that matched the uniform beneath his parka.

Seeing as everyone was wearing green and brown, Andrew removed his parka and put it into his ruck, letting his uniform and IOTV's bizarre patterns somewhat blend in.

After putting his parka away, Andrew made his way over to Aang, who was talking to a fruit stand vendor about hats. "I'll trade you some nuts for that hat." Aang offered.

The vendor thought about it for a moment before agreeing. "My hat is a few years old, so I suppose I could trade you for it."

The two exchanged nuts and the hat, before Aang turned to face Andrew. "Hey Andrew, check out this hat I just bought."

Andrew inspected the straw hat, and noticed it was soaked in sweat, covered in dirt, and practically falling apart. "Aang, are you sure you want to wear this old thing? I hardly ever wear my patrol cap, so if you want to wear it I'd let you."

The younger boy scratched the side of his head, before answering. "Alright."

Andrew nodded in understanding, before retrieving his cap out of his ruck. "Here you go, pretty much good as new."

Aang put the cap on, completely covering the blue arrow tattooed on his head. "How does it feel? Too big? Too small?" Andrew asked.

"I guess its a little big, but I can manage. Oh, hey Sokka."

Turning his head in the direction Aang was looking, Andrew saw Sokka walking up to them.

"What do you think of my new hat?" Aang asked him.

Putting a hand up to his chin skeptically, Sokka looked at both Aang, and Andrew several times. "It looks alright, but it looks better on Andrew."

"Well, it probably looks better on me because it matches my gear." Andrew explained, before he and Sokka were startled by Katara grabbing their arms.

The group of boys gave her their attention, and she let go of their arms. "The boy we saw earlier is in there." She said, pointing a finger at a shop across the dirt street.

Andrew's eyes widened in suprise. " Maybe we should go see what he's doing in there." He suggested.

Sokka took the lead and began walking towards the shop door with Andrew, Aang, and Katara followed a few steps behind. When they reached the shop door, Katara wanted to be the first one inside, and pushed pushed Sokka aside to get through the door.

Looking over everyone else's heads, Andrew saw the boy was talking to an middle aged woman with grayish brown hair, standing behind the shop's counter. "No Haru, you can't just keep running off without doing your chores." She admonished.

"But m-" Haru began.

"Hey, you're that kid we saw in the woods." Sokka said, looking over Katara's shoulder.

Haru turned around to face the group with a nervous look. "Why'd you run away earlier?" Katara asked, stepping closer.

"I think you've got me confused with some other guy." He said, glancing at the woman behind the counter.

Aang stepped out from behind both Sokka and Katara. "No she doesn't. We all saw you earthbending at that creek outside of town."

Haru and the woman behind the counter both ran towards Andrew, who was standing in the doorway. Haru pulled him in the shop, then slammed the door closed behind him, while the woman ran to the window shutters and pulled them closed. "They saw you doing what?!" The older woman demanded.

"What? NO! They're crazy mom, just look how they are dressed!"

Aang, Katara, and Sokka all looked down at their outfits, while Andrew cut in. "The same could be said about you, coming from us."

Haru shot an annoyed look at Andrew, while Haru's mom lectured him. "Haru, you know how dangerous that is. You know what would happen in '_they_' caught you earthbending!"

"Who is '_they_'?" Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The F-"

"OPEN UP IN THERE!" A voice shouted from outside.

The door shook a little when the door was pounded on, and Andrew moved towards the window. Through the shutters, Andrew was able to see a Fire Nation soldier standing outside the shop. "It's the Fire Nation!" He whispered harshly "Act natural!"

Everyone moved to random places in the shop, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Katara grabbed a bowl of berries off of a shelf, before cramming a handful into her mouth, and Haru's mom went to the door. Haru grabbed Sokka, before starting a fake conversation, while Aang ran over to a barrel and rested his arm on it.

Andrew was the last person to find a position. Choosing to stand in front of one of the shelves near the back of the shop, pretending to inspect the items on it, while looking at the door out of the corner of his eye.

Seeing everyone had taken a place of some sort, Haru's mother opened the door to let the soldier inside. When the man stepped in, he looked at everyone in the shop, staring at Andrew the longest. "What do you want? I've already paid you this week." Haru's mother asked.

"Well, the tax just doubled, and we wouldn't want an _accident_, now would we?" He asked, swirling his hands in a circular motion, creating a ball of fire. "_Fire_, its sometimes so hard to control...you don't want me to lose control, _do_ _you_?"

Haru's mother looked saddened, but retreated behind the counter to retrieve the shop's strongbox. "Take it." She said, thrusting a hand full of coins into his open palm.

The soldier smiled before throwing a few on the ground. "You can keep the copper ones."

After dropping the copper coins, the soldier made his way outside, slamming the door behind himself. "What an prick." Andrew said sarcastically, turning his attention back to Haru's mother, who was picking the copper coins off of the ground. "How long has the Fire Nation been in this town?"

Standing up, Haru's mom put the coins back into the chest. "Eight years. Firelord Ozai uses the town's coal mines to fuel his ships and factories."

"They're thugs who steal from us" Haru said, crossing his arms and leaning back on the counter. "and everyone else is too cowardly to do anything about it."

"Quiet Haru! Don't talk like that." His mother said, pointing a finger at him. "You know what would happen if they caught you saying those things."

"But Haru's an earthbender, he can help this place." Katara told the other woman.

"Earthbending is _forbidden_. It's caused nothing but misery for this village, and I will not allow Haru to use his abilities."

Katara stepped forward with an angry look on her face. "How can you say that? Asking him not to earthbend, is like asking me not to waterbend; it's a part of who we are as people."

"You don't understand the problems this village has." Haru's mother said, shaking her head. "You come in, thinking you know everything, well you don't."

"I understand Haru can help you fight against the Fire Nation, but you won't let him. I mean, what can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?"

"They could take Haru away, and put him in a work camp...just like what they did to his father." She said, as her eyes began to water.

Andrew, deciding that the conversation was over, stepped in. "Alright you guys, that's enough. We need to focus on what we actually came here to do. We're sorry Mrs...?" He asked Haru's mother.

"Kino." She said, dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve.

"Well, Mrs. Kino, I'd like to apologize if we upset you, but we need to get going, and buy some food before we leave town." Andrew turned, and ushered everyone out, but a voice stopped him.

"Wait." Mrs. Kino said, causing Andrew and the others to look back at her. "If you would like to, you can have dinner with me and Haru. Afterwards, you four can stay the night in the barn."

Andrew didn't understand why she was offering them food and shelter, but he smiled at he before accepting. "Thank you Mrs. Kino."

* * *

After retrieving Appa and the rest of the things the group left at their campsite, Aang, Sokka, Katara, Andrew followed the directions given by Mrs. Kino to their farm.

Sitting on the small wooden porch outside the farmhouse waiting for them, was Haru and Mrs. Kino. When they got close enough to hold a conversation, Mrs. Kino stood up. "Haru will show you where you will be staying." She explained, going inside the farmhouse.

"I'll give you guys a quick rundown of the farm." Haru said, pointing towards a small hut on the opposite end of the property.

The hut was a small rectangular building with a wooden pig pen built on the side. "That's the pig-chicken pen. That," He pointed towards a hand well pump. "is where we get out water from, so if you're thirsty, pump it a few times, and water will come out."

"And this, is where you will be sleeping." Haru said, walking up to the barn, and opening the doors.

The barn itself was a giant dome shaped building, which was odd to Andrew, but he didn't voice his curiosity. "Well, dinner is in an hour, and my mom will come and get you. I could also use a little help with my chores if you're looking to pass the time." Haru said, walking away.

Stripping off all of his equipment, Andrew set everything inside of the barn, before going after Haru with Katara.

"Haru." They both said, causing the boy in question to turn back around.

"What do you guys need?" He asked.

"You go first." Andrew told Katara.

Katara nodded in appreciation before speaking. "Can I walk with you?"

Haru nodded, and turned his attention to Andrew. "What do you need?"

"I wanted to know which chores you needed help with." Andrew answered.

"Well, I need the most help with chopping firewood. Winter just started, and my mom is complaining about how we need more before it starts snowing heavily. The wood is over there. I'll be back to help you with an extra axe." Haru told Andrew, running over to the farmhouse.

Katara, left with Andrew, who was walking over to the chopping block. She followed awkwardly behind him.

After making his way over to the chopping block, Katara tried to start a conversation. "Why do you keep all of your stuff on wherever we go? I've only seen you take it off back at the North Pole, and before you go to sleep."

"Well, in the army I was taught to always be ready when out in the field. Considering that almost everywhere we've gone so far, we've had trouble with Zuko or other Fire Nation soldiers, I try to be ready to fight at all times." He answered, picking up the axe.

"Oh."

Putting a log onto the chopping block, Andrew looked over at Katara, who was standing awkwardly a few yards away.

'_Well, if she's just going to stand there, I might as well talk to her'_ Andrew said to himself. "Any other questions?"

Katara considered her next question, before speaking. "What was your home like?"

Andrew smiled. "I grew up near a city called Yakima. It was pretty warm most of the time, and really the only thing I really did there was work constantly. Growing apples wasn't that hard to do, but it was boring work."

Andrew split another log and threw it onto the wood pile. "Did you have any family?"

"Well, there was my mom, my dad, my younger brother Charles, and my older sister Anna, though I haven't heard anything from her in a few years."

Taking even longer for her next question, Katara finaly spoke. "How'd you get involved in the war going on in your world?"

Andrew froze up for a fraction of a second. "...I told you the condensed version back at your village." He replied dismissively, bringing the axe down, splitting the log in two.

Katara took a seat on a log before speaking. "I wasn't _really_ paying attention, and seeing how we have a bit of time, why don't you tell me the long version."

Andrew looked nervous, but tried to tell the story as slowly, and detailed as possible.

"In my world, resources like oil and gold were extremely valuable. Oil was used to fuel vehicles, and gold was used in electronics. Well, the world was running out of those two, the first one in particular, and the only places we hadn't taken a lot of both out of, were the north and south poles. The U.S.-my country- and Russia, had a border dispute in the Arctic and the Bering Strait, causing both countries to put ships and soldiers in those places."

He split another log in two, and threw the pieces onto an already existing woodpile.

"Well, we accidentally put our ships a little too close to the Russian mainland, and they sunk an aircraft carrier and four other ships because they thought we were going to invade. Immediately after, we declared war on them along with our allies, and Russia called its allies against us. In two months, Eastern Europe was completely overrun by the Russians, the majority of Asia was controlled by the Chinese, even African countries saw it as a good excuse to go to war against their neighbors, and declared war on each other."

Bringing the axe down once again, Andrew split another log. "Western Europe was being bombed almost hourly, and the only countries left mostly standing were in the Americas, and even then, Russia and China were using long range missles based in Hawaii to destroy cities on the west coast of the U.S since the start of the war."

"How did _you _personally get involved in the war?" Katara asked after a moment of silence. "Did you and the rest of your village join up once you heard the war began? Or was it something else?"

Andrew stopped splitting wood, and set the axe down. "I was in Seattle visiting a friend when the first missiles hit... they collapsed a few of the buildings, destroyed ships in the Sound, turned the Boeing factory into a heap of metal, and leveled houses full of people..." Andrew described, his voice wavering. "I was in the metro when it happened, so I was fine when the missiles first hit... but when I got to the surface..."

Andrew's fists began to shake in anger as he recalled his experience. "Thousands of people were killed in the span of a few minutes, and hundreds more died waiting for help to arrive." His eyes began to water, and he wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall, before sitting down on the chopping block.

"People said that Seattle was hit first because of it's closeness, electronics industry, and the fact that the Boeing plant there can make hundreds of planes." Andrew explained. "After the attack on Seattle, I enlisted in the Army to be an infantryman, went through basic, and was sent in with an invasion force that landed in northern Russia a few months ago. When we first landed, there pretty much nobody who fought back, but the closer we got to Moscow, the more soldiers and guerrillas we encountered, and the harder we had to fight. Last I heard, we managed to get within a thousand miles from Moscow."

"I fought in the battle of Salekhard, Vorkuta, and then Ukhta before I was called back from the advance, and stationed at a newly established base in Usinsk. There I was dealing with rebel activity in the surrounding area. _But_, one day we -_no, I_\- messed up, and ended up walking until I found the ship you and Aang were on."

Andrew looked up from the ground towards Katara, who was completely silent. "You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah... it's just, I'm suprised at how much you've been through in the span of a few months. And you still continue fighting." She said, getting up from the log. "You always seemed like there was nothing wrong going on..."

"Traveling with you guys is a walk in the park compared to fighting a war." Andrew finished, standing up as well.

Katara smiled sadly before looking around. "What do you think is taking Haru so long?"

Andrew put a log onto the block, and checked his watch.

**15:07**

"Well, I think it's been about fifteen minutes since he left. I'm suprised it's taken him that long to find an axe. Maybe he got sidetracked."

As soon as he finished his sentence, Mrs. Kino came out of the farmhouse. Looking around, she saw the pair. "Go get your friends, Haru and I made dinner!" She called out.

Andrew set the axe down, and walked towards the barn with Katara. "Well, at least we know where he went." She said with a smile.

Andrew smiled back.

When they pair reached the barn, they found Sokka sharpening his boomerang, and Aang trying to keep Appa from eating the hay. "Appa, no! You can't eat all of the Kinos' hay." Aang said, trying to block Appa from the bales stacked at beside the door.

"Mrs. Kino said it's dinner time." Andrew announced to the others.

"Food!" Sokka shouted, sheathing his boomerang before running towards the farmhouse.

Katara shook her head disapprovingly at her brother's antics, and Aang gave up keeping Appa out of the hay. "Well, I guess I'll have to apologize to Mrs. Kino about Appa." The younger boy said with a sigh.

"I'm sure she'll understand, Aang." Katara said, in a motherly tone. "Now, let's go eat."

* * *

As Andrew sat down at the Kino's table, Haru walked up to him from the kitchen and whispered in his ear. "Sorry I couldn't help you chop firewood. My mom said I should be a more helpful host, and help her make dinner for all of us."

Andrew nodded. "Its fine Haru. Helping cook is nothing new to me."

Haru looked relieved, and went to take his seat beside his mother. Mrs. Kino smiled at her son, and began to take food from the center of the table, and placed it on her plate. "I hope you all enjoy the food. Haru and I made it."

Everyone began to pick up food with their chopsticks, and dig in. "So," Mrs. Kino said, taking a bite out of her food. "I was curious about your clothing. I've never seen anything similar to the four of your outfits, especially yours Andrew." She pointed her chopsticks at Andrew. "Why don't you tell me about it."

"Well, this is the combat uniform of the United States Army." Andrew asnwered. "This camouflage pattern has been in use since 2019, so it's pretty old looking.

Mrs. Kino's eyes looked at him suspiciously. "So you are a soldier?"

Andrew nodded his head 'Yes'.

"Which nation do you fight for?"

"Well, technically I fight for the United States, but that isn't really a thing here..." He said with a small shrug. "So, I guess I fight for everyone except the Fire Nation."

Haru's mother nodded her head approvingly. "Good."

The table went quiet as everyone ate, until Sokka, who was sitting beside Andrew, let out a loud burp. Seeing that Sokka wasnt going to say sorry for his lack of manners, Andrew slapped his leg under the table. "OW! What was that for?!" Sokka cried out.

'_Say 'excuse me_'.' He mouthed.

Rubbing his leg furiously, Sokka used his manners. "Excuse me."

After Sokka was excused, Haru spoke up. "So Katara, you said you were a waterbender. Why don't you give us a demonstration?"

Katara looked around the room nervously. "I'm not that good of a waterbender...but I suppose I can try."

Standing up, Katara pulled the soup out of Andrew's bowl, and twirled it around in a figure eight design before freezing, then unfreezing the liquid, and dropping it back into Andrew's bowl. Haru and Mrs. Kino clapped at the display, and Katara flushed beet red before returning to her seat.

"That was a beautiful display, Katara." Mrs. Kino told her, causing the young woman to turn a darker shade of red.

"You guys want to see some cool airbender tricks?" Aang asked with a huge grin on his face.

Haru and his mother looked at Aang like he grew a second head. "I thought there were no airbenders left." She said.

Aang's grin was wiped away, and he looked down at his plate full of rice. "I know... I'm the only one left"

Seeing Aang in a depressed state, Sokka asked him to show them his marble trick. With a small smile, Aang reached into his clothes, and pulled out two blue marbles. Holding one hand above the other, the marbles began to spin in a ring shape. "Impressive." Haru told Aang, bringing a bigger smile to the other boy's face.

While everyone continued to eat, the table went quiet once again.

"Are you four leaving tomorrow?" Mrs. Kino asked the group after a few moments of silence.

"We should be out of your hair tomorrow morning." Andrew answered, drinking his cup of water.

"Where are you guys headed?" Haru asked.

"Up to the North Pole to learn waterbending." Aang answered.

"Well, I hope you all have a safe trip there." Mrs. Kino told the teens.

* * *

When the meal was finished, Katara, Aang, and Sokka went back into the barn while Andrew, with the Kino's insistence not to, helped cleaned the dishes. "I wanted to thank you both for feeding us, and letting us stay here, even though I don't understand why you would."

Haru nodded his head, and went to go outside while his mother stayed. "I originally wanted to thank you for not telling the Fire Nation soldiers garrisoned here about Haru's earthbending. But after talking to you and your friends during dinner, I realized that you four would never have told them."

Andrew accepted the somewhat confusing complement. "Thanks, I guess..."

"It was our pleasure having you." Mrs. Kino told Andrew. "And thank you for helping us clean up."

"Helping you clean up is the least I could do. My mom would have killed me if she found out I didn't help you clean up after a meal." Andrew said, putting the last dish into a cupboard.

She smiled. "Goodnight Andrew."

Andrew smiled back, and went for the door. "Goodnight Mrs. Kino." He said stepping into the dark, and closing the door behind himself.

Heading towards the barn, Andrew stopped when he heard Haru's voice. "Can I talk with you?"

Turning around, he saw Haru's form sitting on something large. "About what?"

"Where can I join the army?"

Trying to think about how about how to answer, Andrew sat on the edge of the object as well. "Do you really want to join the army?"

Haru nodded.

"Why do you want to join?"

"I want to get revenge for all the things the Fire Nation did to my village."

Andrew sighed. "I know the feeling Haru, but you shouldn't just run off and join the army without even talking to your family. I did it, and now I have to deal with the guilt knowing I walked out on my family just so I could get revenge on the people who have destroyed dozens of cities."

Haru sat silently while Andrew continued. "I've killed dozens of people... both soldiers, and civilians who decided to pick up arms for their country. Every moment for the rest of my life, I will have to live with those people's blood on my hands, all because I decided I wanted to get revenge."

Haru looked down in shame. "If you still want to join the army, tell your mother what you plan on doing before you run off looking to join."

Seeing Haru nod his head, Andrew stood up and went to the barn.

Inside, Sokka was laying on two hay bales snoring loudly, Aang was sleeping on Appa, and Katara was laying in the corner silently. Seeing everyone asleep, Andrew stripped down to his thermal underclothes, and slipped into his sleeping bag.

* * *

Feeling a massive tongue lick his face, Andrew shot up. "Appa no!" He shouted, unable to see which way the sky bison was in.

Blindly climbing out of his sleeping bag, Andrew wiped the saliva off of his eyelids before opening his eyes to see Appa's face a foot away from his own. "I'm up, Appa..."

Walking out to the water pump, Andrew washed his face off, and went back into the barn to get dressed. Everyone was laying where they were the night before, except Aang, who was now laying on the floor.

Checking the watch on his wrist, Andrew read the time.

05:24

"Alright you guys, get up! It's time to get moving!"

* * *

**_A/N: I thought I'd use Haru's first appearance to branch out Andrew's backstory. Deciding a good place for Andrew to be from, along with a_****_ major city on the west coast of the U.S. that had good stuff to destroy (Seattle) was hard to write about/research._**

**_I'm pretty sure Avatar: the Last Airbender takes place from early December to a few weeks after the summer solstice (at least July 1st to August 27th at most)_**

**_I changed the ages* of the characters by about 3 years. _**

**_Unlisted characters: Age* + 3 years_**

**_Andrew: 19 (Born July 10th, 2037)_**

**_Aang: From 12 to 15_**

**_Katara*: From 14 to 17_**

**_Sokka*: From 16 to 19(older than Andrew by about four months)_**

**_Zuko*: From 16 to 19 (Younger than Andrew by a few weeks)_**

**_Toph*: From 11 to 14_**

* * *

_*** Character's ages aren't really mentioned over the show's course, so if you think a character's age is around 14 in the show, they're around 17 in this fic.**_


	10. Spirits

Appa let out a loud groan, startling the red hawk Andrew was watching, and causing it to flee towards the ground hundreds of feet below them. Sighing, he turned his attention to Katara and Sokka who were sitting in the saddle beside him.

Katara was looking over the edge at the clouds below, and Sokka was carving something out of a wood block he'd taken off the ground on their last stop. "Those clouds look so soft, don't they?" Katara asked no one in particular. "Like you could just jump down, and land on a big, soft, cottony heap..."

"Katara, clouds are just condensed water vapor." Andrew explained, scooting over towards Momo. "If you tried to jump on one, you'd probably get soaked on the way down to the ground."

Momo jumped into Andrew's lap, while Katara turned to look back at her brother. "Maybe Sokka should try it out. Tui and La know he needs a bath."

Sokka scowled at his sister's words. "OH, HA HA. Katara, you're so funny."

Standing from his spot on Appa's head, Aang called out to Andrew. "I'll see if you're right!" He shouted, just before jumping off with his staff.

Andrew's eyes widened in suprise, and he quickly moved to the edge of the saddle to see a glimpse of Aang, just before he vanished into the cloud. "Well, he brought his glider with him, so at least he won't hit the ground." Sokka said in dismissal, leaning back into the saddle.

Andrew turned to send Sokka a glare, when he saw Aang land on the opposite side of the saddle, with his clothes completely soaked. "Andrew was right: clouds are made of water."

Taking a deep breath, Aang brought his fists together, letting the breath he was holding in, out. The resulting airblast dried the young monk off, and turned Momo into a fluffy ball of fur. "How did you know clouds were made of water?" Katara asked Andrew, reaching out to brush Momo's fur back in place.

"Well, I learned about the water cycle in school." Andrew said, scratching his head.

Katara's eyes lit up at the mention of water. "The water cycle?"

"Yeah..."

"How does it work?" She asked in excitement, taking her hand away from Momo's still fluffy body. "Does it have anything to do with waterbending?"

Andrew shook his head. "The water cycle has nothing to do with your waterbending...except, you know, water..." She lost her smile, and Sokka grinned instead.

"See Katara, not everything about water has something to do with your weird magic powers." Sokka told her, getting a swift smack on the arm from his sister. "Ow! Why'd you have to do that?"

"Maybe if you weren't so rude, I wouldn't smack you." She replied, crossing her arms and looking away.

"Well, then how does the water cycle work?" Aang asked, brushing the rest of Momo's fur down.

"The water cycle is just how water changes states and moves around the world. Water evaporates, condenses into clouds, and falls back down to earth as rain, snow, or hail. When the water gets hot again, it evaporates into water vapor, and the cycle repeats."

Aang nodded his head in understanding, before getting up to take his place on Appa's head back. "Woah, what is that?" He asked, pointing a finger over Andrew's shoulder.

Andrew followed Aang's finger and saw the place he was pointing at: a mile away was about a few dozen acres of burnt out forest. "Its like a scar..." He heard Sokka say.

"Aang, take us down there for a better look." Andrew told him.

"Got it.

* * *

When they landed, Andrew hopped over the saddle edge with only his rifle, and landed on the forest floor, kicking up a small cloud of ash. Sokka tried to jump off like Andrew had, but he tripped on the edge of the saddle, and landed face first on the floor.

Andrew laughed, and Sokka looked up at him with a face covered in ash. "Laughing, really? At least help me get this stuff off of my face." He requested, trying in vain to wipe the ash off of his face.

Smiling at the fact Sokka was only smearing the ash all over his face, Andrew grabbed the drinking tube mounted on his rucksack strap connected to his camelback. "Close your eyes, and hold still."

Sokka closed his eyes, and didn't move a muscle.

Filling his mouth full of water, Andrew spit the liquid in Sokka's face. "Now use your shirt to wipe the ash away. I'll tell you if you missed a spot."

With a disgusted look on his face, Sokka wiped as much ash off as he could get, using the already grey bindings wrapped around his forearm. "Did I get it all?"

Noticing the small blotches of ash around Sokka's mouth, Andrew told him. "No. There's still ash left on the corners of your mouth."

Wiping off his mouth, Sokka opened his eyes. "Thanks."

Andrew shrugged his shoulders. "No problem."

Taking a good look around at the devastated forest, Andrew saw footprints in the ash covering the ground. "Sokka, somebody's been through here." He told him, pointing a finger to the ground.

Sokka looked away from his even grayer forearm wrappings, and walked over to where Andrew was pointing. "I've seen these footprints before! Fire Natoon soldiers wear this pattern! They must have been the ones who did this to the forest!"

"Calm down Sokka." He said, putting a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "The Fire Nation could have been passing through, or even trying to get rid of the flames. Forest fires happen all the time. For all we know, it could have been a lightning strike, or someone's campfire could have gotten out of hand."

Andrew's explanation seemed to calm Sokka down, but he still seemed to be angry. "Well, I'm still betting the the Fire Nation were the ones who did this!"

"Sokka, be quiet."

Andrew and Sokka turned their heads at the sound of Katara's voice behind them. She gestured to Aang, who was sitting on his feet several yards away from where she was standing. "Why would anyone do this?" Aang said, picking a handful of ash up off the ground. "How could I let this happen?" He finished, letting the ash fall out of his hand.

Katara stepped closer to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Aang you didn't let this happen, it has nothing to do with you."

Aang moved away from Katara's hand. "Yes it does. It's the Avatar's job to protect nature, but I don't know how to do my job."

Andrew was watching the two closely, until Sokka nudged his arm. Turning his attention to the boy beside himself, Andrew asked what he wanted. "What do you want Sokka?"

"Do you think it's weird Aang doesn't eat meat?" He asked, picking at his fingernails.

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Why are you asking me this now? We've been traveling with Aang for almost two weeks, and you just bring it up now?"

"Well, I thought it was strange, and I didn't know why."

"Have you not been listening to Aang?" Andrew asked in disbelief. "The Air Nomads taught him that all life was sacred, so eating meat is against his religious beliefs."

Sokka shrugged. "Whatever."

Shaking his head at Sokka's dismissal of Aang's religion, Andrew turned to look back at the boy in question. The airbender was still kneeling in the same spot, and Katara was heading towards himself and her older brother. "Need something?"

She nodded her head, before glancing back at Aang. "We need something to cheer Aang up. Any ideas?"

Both Andrew and Sokka stood thinking for a moment. Looking down to the ground in frustration, Andrew saw an acorn, and bent down to pick it up.

'Sometimes a fire is good for a forest.' He remembered Mrs. Rodriguez, his freshman Environmental Class teacher's words. 'It removes the decaying plant matter on the forest floor, allowing sunlight to get to the ground floor, helping new plants to grow.'

Andrew repeated the words to Katara. "What?" She asked.

"Some forest fires are good for a forest because it removes dead plants, and lets new plants to grow in their place." He held the acorn for her to take. "For example: this acorn, along with all of the others laying on the ground should grow back into a regular tree in about a decade or two."

Katara took the acorn from Andrew's hand before making her way over to Aang, with Andrew trailing close behind. The pair of teenagers came to a stop a few feet from Aang. "Hey Aang, are you ready to be cheered up?"

Aang shook his head. "No..."

Katara winded up, and threw the acorn at Aang. It sailed through the air before making contact with the right side of his bald head. "OW! How was that 'cheering me up'?!" He shouted, rubbing the side of his head.

Sokka started to laugh loudly. "That definitely cheered me up!" He managed to say between laughs.

Katara picked up a second acorn, and threw it at Sokka. It hit him square between the eyes, silencing his laughing completely. Andrew saw him mutter before he turned back to Katara. "Don't you think hitting Aang was a bit extreme?" He asked.

Katara ignored him before kneeling down to Aang's eye level. "These acorns are everywhere Aang. That means the forest will grow back." She took his hand, and placed the acorn laying beside him into his hand. "Every one of these will be a tall oak tree someday. All the birds, animals, and plants will come back."

Aang looked up from the acorn laying on his palm. "Really?"

She nodded. "Just ask Andrew, he's the one who told me."

He turned his head to Andrew. "Is it true?"

Andrew nodded as well. "Yeah. Though I'm suprised you didn't know this before hand."

"The monks didn't teach me about forest fires..." Aang said, looking up at the sky.

"Is that the avatar?"

Everyone looked in the direction the voice came from.

Walking beside Appa was a bald old man wearing faded green Earth Kingdom robes. Besides the branch he used as a cane, he was completely unarmed from what Andrew could tell, so he kept his rifle pointed down at the ground.

"Who are you?" Sokka asked, pulling out his boomerang.

The man walked right past Sokka, and continued towards Aang. "When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible. But...those markings...are you the Avatar, child?" He asked, pointing a finger at Aang.

He looked back towards Andrew and Katara to see how he should answer. They nodded their heads, and Aang turned back to the man. "Yes, I am the Avatar."

"My village is in desperate need of your help." He said, turning around. "Follow me."

Aang, Katara, and Sokka all followed as he left, while Andrew hesitated for a moment. Sighing, he followed along behind them.

* * *

After a short twenty minute walk, the group entered the village through a gap in the outer wall. Most of the houses in the village were heaps of wood and stone laying on the ground. Others that survived total destruction had their roofs caved in, and the stone walls were shattered.

At the end of the small dirt road that ran through the village was a large gong type building with red walls, a green xie shan roof, and golden trim on the support pillars. The old man, who revealed his name to be Chin Lo, led them inside the building.

Glancing around the room, Andrew saw, dozens of people sitting around trying to occupy themselves, some played boardgames, others were talking amongst themselves. "This young person is the Avatar." Chin Lo announced to the room.

The people all looked at Aang in amazement, while a middle aged man came forward. "So the rumors of your return are true. My name is Hen." Hen clasped his hands together, and bowed. "It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to meet you, Avatar."

Aang bowed back. "It's an honor to meet you Hen."

After bowing to each other, there was a moment of awkward silence. "So...is there something I can help you with?" Aang asked.

Hen looked away. "I'm not sure..."

"Then why are we here?" Andrew asked him. "If you don't know what the problem is, Aang can't help you."

Sokka nodded his head in agreement. "For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village." Chin Lo explained. "He is Hei Bai: the black and white spirit."

"Why is it attacking you? There's got to be some reason."

Hen walked around the group, and went over to the door. "We do not know why he is attacking. But each of the last four nights, he has taken someone from our village. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near."

"What happens then?" Katara questioned.

"When the solstice approach, the natural and spirit worlds come closer, and closer until the line between them is blurred completely." Chin Lo told the group.

Hen nodded his head, before turning away from the door. "Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here... there's no telling what could happen to us."

"What do you want me to do?" Aang asked the two men.

Chin Lo kneeled in front of Aang. "Who better to resolve the crisis between our worlds than the Avatar himself? You are the great bridge between man and spirits."

Aang turned away from him. "Yeah... that's me..."

"Hey great bridge guy, I need you over here for a second." Katara said, while pulling him over to a nearby window.

Andrew and Sokka went as well. When Katara was confident enough that they wouldn't be heard, she started talking. "Aang, you seem a little unsure about all of this."

"That's probably because I don't know anything about the spirit world..."

Andrew, Katara, and Sokka gave him a look of complete disbelief. Seeing their faces Aang threw up his hands in exasperation. "It's not like there's anybody to teach me about all of this!"

"Well," Andrew began. "Can you help these people in some way?"

"I have to try, don't I? Maybe whatever I have to do will just come to me."

The others smiled optimistically. "I think you can do it Aang." Katara told him.

Nodding his head in agreement, Andrew repeated Katara's words. "I think you can do it too."

"Yeah... we're all gonna get eaten by a spirit monster." Sokka said with a massive smile.

Chuckling, Andrew received a glare from Katara.

* * *

When the sun began to disappear over the horizon, the villagers cowered against the wall opposite to the door.

"Are you ready Aang?" Sokka questioned.

Seeing him nod his head '_yes_', Andrew and Sokka opened the doors for Aang. "If you need help, call for us."

Aang didn't give a reply before stepping through the door. The door creaked as it was shut behind the young monk. The two boys then ran over to the window Katara was standing at, and looked out at Aang. He was walking down the street, calling out to Hei Bai.

"Hello? Spirit, can you hear me? This is the Avatar speaking!" Reaching the destroyed gate into town, he stopped in his tracks. "I'm here to try and help... stuff..."

"This isn't right."

Hearing Sokka's voice, Andrew turned his head to look at him. "What's not right?"

He pointed a finger down the street at Aang. "What isn't right is the fact that he's out there waiting for some monster, and we're sitting in here cowering."

"Look, I don't know anything about this Avatar stuff, exactly the same as you... but if facing a monster is his job, then it's for him to do."

Sokka shook his head at what Andrew said. "He still shouldn't have to face this alone!"

The sky began to darken as the last glimpse of sunlight disappeared over the horizon. Andrew looked down at the watch on his wrist, checking both the date, and the time.

12/19/56,16:51

'_Two days until the winter solstice._..' looking up from his watch, he saw Aang, who was spinning his staff in front of his body.

Striking the ground with one end of the staff, he stood silently for a moment, before turning back around and making his way towards the building. Whispers reached Andrew's ears, and he glanced around the main hall. None of the villagers were speaking, and yet the whispers were growing louder and louder, until it sounded like someone was whispering directly into his ears.

Sokka and Katara seemed like they couldn't hear the whispering, and continued to look out the window. Desperate to stop the whispers, he put his M4's sling over his head, and plugged both ears with his fingers. For a few seconds it did nothing to help silence the voices, until the whispers suddenly stopped.

Outside the gate, Andrew could see a massive shadowy figure moving down the road towards the gate. 'What the hell is that?' He thought, pulling his fingers out of his ears.

A six-armed, fifteen foot tall, black and white monster came out from the treeline, and made it's way through the demolished gate and into the village itself.

Hei Bai took massive steps towards Aang, who was completely unaware what was behind him. As if he had sensed the creature following him, the airbender turned around. Letting out a bright blue light, Hei Bai screamed into Aang's face, before rising on its hind legs. It let out another ear piercing scream before charging past Aang, and farther into the village.

"Hey!" Aang shouted, chasing after the spirit. "My name is Aang, and I'm trying to help!"

Hei Bai ignored him, and began to smash the villagers' homes. After collapsing a large house with a backhand, Hei Bai teleported a few houses down the main street, and caved in someone's roof. Andrew rubbed his eyes similar to how a cartoon character would.

Teleporting away, Andrew saw the top of a watchtower at the far end of the village collapse after being hit with a blue light. Appearing out of thin air, Hei Bai screamed at another house, blowing it apart, and sending chunks of wood out like shrapnel. Some of the wood chunks came hurtling towards the window, hitting Momo and knocking him off of the windowsill.

"The Avatar's methods are...unusual." Hen said behind them.

"It doesn't seem too interested in what he's saying. Maybe we should go help him." Sokka suggested, turning around to face Chin Lo and Hen.

Andrew nodded his head in agreement. "I've changed my mind. If that thing can destroy buildings, what would happen to Aang if it went after him?"

"No, only the Avatar stands a chance against Hei Bai." Chin Lo told him, picking an unconscious Momo up off the ground.

"Dont worry about Aang, he'll figure out the right thing to do." Katara said, putting a hand on her brother's shoulder.

He and Andrew both turned brought their attention back to Hei Bai, just in time to see him backhand Aang into a building across the village. He slid down the building roof, and landed in a heap on the ground.

"Fuck this! I'm going to help Aang." Andrew shouted, making his way over to the door. "Sokka, you coming?"

Seeing Sokka nod his head 'yes', Andrew flipped the safety off of his M4, pulled the charging handle back, and let it slide forward, chambering a round. "Let's go!" He told the other boy, throwing the door open, and running outside.

"Wait!" He heard Katara shout from the building.

Ignoring her, Andrew rushed over to Aang, who was just starting to stand up. "Are you alright?"

Aang rubbed his shoulders. "Ugh, that hurt..."

"Aang are you alright?"

Hearing him the second time, he said yes. "Good. We need to get you back inside." Andrew told him, looking around for Hei Bai. "Sokka, get Aang to his feet, and head towards the main building, I'll cover you."

Sokka pulled Aang to his feet before they made a break for the building. Hei Bai teleported in front of the retreating trio, and Andrew moved in front of the others. Aiming his rifle up at the spirit's head, he shot four rounds into it's face. The bullets didn't pierce the spirit's body, deforming before they fell onto the ground. Hei Bai didn't even flinch when it was hit, and it grabbed him with one of its four arms, causing Andrew to drop his weapon as he was lifted upwards.

"SOKKA, AANG, HELP!" He called out, hoping to be released before he became the spirit's dinner.

Hei Bai turned towards the main gate, and took off into the trees with Andrew, who was screaming for help. Getting a glimpse of Aang's orange glider through the trees, Andrew yelled louder. "HELP!"

Breaking through the treeline and into the burned section of the forest, Aang used his glider to get within arm's reach of Andrew. "Hang on!" He yelled, holding out a hand.

Andrew held his out, but before he could get ahold of Aang, a flash of light blinded him, causing the boy to close his eyes tightly.

* * *

Andrew could feel something touching his arm. "It's a human." A voice said. "What is it wearing? I've never seen humans with this clothing."

Andrew didn't move a muscle, for fear of being harmed. "Wo, leave it alone. What do you think Xinsu would do if he caught you messing with humans?" A different voice asked.

"Oh please, that old baboon never moves from his spot in that swamp, and he doesn't even like humans. Do you really think he'd come all the way out here for something he doesn't know or care about?"

The other voice sighed. "Fine, do what you want. I'm going to the fire lily plains."

After a few moments of silence, something tried to open one of his velcro magazine pouches. Opening his eyes, Andrew shot his arms out, and grabbed the whatever was messing with his ammunition. With his hands around the thing's neck, he spun his weight around to be on top of the creature. "Let...go!" It choked out, struggling underneath his hands.

Getting a proper look at the creature he was strangling, it was a person sized animal, with a dog's body and a cat's face. Immediately, he released the thing's neck and jumped away. "What the fuck are you?!"

After a fit of coughing, the creature sat up. "I could say the same to you, ugly." It said, rubbing its neck with a paw. "What's the matter with you?"

"'_What's_ _the_ _matter_ _with_ _me'?_ You were trying to steal one of my magazines!" Andrew shouted back.

"Hey, it's not my fault Cat-dogs are curious..." It replied, getting to it's hind paws. "So, human, what brings you to the spirit world?"

"Don't change topics. Why were you trying to search me?"

The cat-dog rolled its eyes at his question. "I was...curious. It's not often humans bring objects in, let alone come here in the first place."

'_Liar_.' He thought, taking another step back. "I'm not stupid."

"Could've fooled me..." It muttered. "Like I said before, what are you doing in the spirit world? Looking for a dead loved one? Asking for a favor? Looking for enlightenment?"

"I don't know..." Andrew answered.

The cat-dog looked confused. "Then how'd you get here? Wait, let me guess..." He said, scratching his furry chin. "You were taken, weren't you?"

Andrew nodded. "Hei Bai?" The cat-dog asked, receiving another nod. "He's been pretty angry lately."

"Why?" Andrew asked the creature.

"I might remember what happened if you were to... I don't know... offer a gift." It offered, smiling mischievously.

"Why should I give you anything? You were just trying to steal from me!"

He appeared annoyed. "Why shouldn't you? Don't you recognize who I am? A 'tall, walking and talking cat-dog' should ring a few gongs."

"Should I?"

"I am Wo, the embodiment of all cat-dogs! You should consider yourself lucky I'm even speaking to a mortal like you."

Grumbling at Wo's pompous attitude, he searched his vest, and produced a bag of skittles from one of the pouches. Opening it, he poured a few out of the bag, and walked over to the spirit. "Here."

"What are these?" Wo questioned, sniffing at handful of brightly colored candy.

"It's candy." Andrew told Wo, who stuffed the sweets into his mouth, and began chewing.

"Delicious! I must have more of those delicious candies." He said, holding out his paw for more.

"Information first, then I might give you a few more." Andrew demanded.

With an annoyed look on his face, Wo began to explain. "Jinsol, the spirit of thieves, told me he is angry that a group of Earth Kingdom bandits accidentally burned his foreet. Hei Bai doesn't know it was bandits, and he's been taking his anger out on a nearby village. Now, can I have a few more?"

Andrew gave him five more, and put the skittles back in one of his pouches. "Can you help me get out of here?"

Wo shook his head at Andrew's question. "Sorry, but the only way you're getting out of here, is if Hei Bai let's you go. If I know that panda, and I do...you aren't getting out of here until the forest grows back... but, that's _if_ Hei Bai will even let you go in the first place."

Andrew's hope of escaping the spirit world disappeared. "So I'm stuck here?"

"Look on the bright side; living mortals don't age in the spirit world. If you were here for a thousand years, you wouldn't start aging again until you got out. Hell, you don't even _need_ to eat or drink anything." Wo tried to cheer him up, but Andrew's sad expression didn't change.

_'I really am stuck he_re.' Andrew thought with a frown. _'I guess general Iroh and I can talk about the spirit world if he shows up here."_

"Well, since you're stuck here, you might as well stay by my side as my trusty human companion." Wo told him, with a grin. "In the mortal world it's humans who have cat-dogs as companions, here, it will be spirits who have mortals as companions."

"You want me to be your...pet?" Andrew asked, taking a step back.

"Well, I wouldn't say '_pet_', but if you want to call it that..."

Andrew turned, and began walking away from Wo. "Hey, human! Wait, I'm not done with you!" Andrew heard Wo's footsteps behind him.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in being an animal's pet!" He shouted over his shoulder, taking off in a sprint.

Jumping over a log that was in his way, Andrew took a right turn into a group of trees and hid. "You know, this isn't a very good place to hide."

Andrew looked up to where the voice came from, and saw Wo perched on a tree branch. "You could've just said 'Oh most powerful Wo, I thank you for your generosity to a pathetic mortal like me, but I decline your offer' instead of running off."

Andrew blinked. '_He isn't mad about me running off?_'

"Because of your rude behavior, next time you encounter a-" Wo was cut off when Andrew was suddenly surrounded by bamboo shoots.

"Wo?" Andrew asked, pushing the shoots aside, looking for the cat-dog spirit.

Stepping out of the bamboo, Andrew was knocked off of his feet when someone tackled him. "Andrew!"

Glancing up, Andrew was greeted by Aang's smiling face. "Aang? What happend?"

"You were stuck in the spirit world for a day." He replied, stepping back to give the older boy some space.

Andrew got up, and looked up at the sky. It was as dark as when he was abducted by Hei Bai. "Aang, I couldn't have been in there longer than half an hour."

Sokka and Katara came up beside Aang. "He's right, you were in there for twenty four hours."

A quick glance at his watch disagreed with what they were saying.

12/19/56, 17:36

"Sorry guys, but my watch says it's only been about thirty minutes since Hei Bai took me."

"Maybe it has something to do with you being in the spirit world." Katara explained.

'Maybe she's right.' He thought, changing the date for one day.

"When we get out of here, you're teaching me how to use that thing." Sokka said, pointing a finger at his watch.

Andrew agreed, and looked around. Surrounding their small group were families talking and hugging. Standing behind Aang was Hen, along with Chin Lo and three others. "Thank you Avatar." Aang turned around at the mention of his title. "Is there any way we can repay you?"

"You can give us some supplies...and money." Sokka said, receiving an elbow to the arm from Katara.

"What? It's the least they could do for us fixing their problem. We need stuff if we want to make it where we're going."

Hen bowed when the teen's attention was back on him. "It would be an honor." He told them, walking off.

After Hen was gone, Katara turned to Aang. "We're so proud of you Aang." She hugged him, and his cheeks went bright red. "You figured out how to do it all on your own."

Aang rubbed his bald head. "Actually... I did have a little help. And there's something else..." He explained, glancing down at the ground.

"What is it?" Andrew questioned him.

"I need to talk to Roku, and think I found a way to contact his spirit."

"How are you supposed to talk to a dead guy?" Sokka asked him.

"There's a temple on a crescent shaped island, and if I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak with him."

"But isn't the solstice tomorrow?"

"Yeah, and there's one more problem... the island is in the Fire Nation."

The Water Tribe siblings looked shocked at the news, while Andrew looked nervous.

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. (I got a job three weeks ago, and I've also been experimenting with a new fic, so its becoming harder to balance both work and writing.**_

_**I'm also going to try replying to all new reviews to the story starting now.**_

_**Review from Dinner With the Kino's:**_

_**To the guest who left a review: You said : "**I find it strange that a world that's used so much oil and gold still has a superpower using weapons like M4's."_

_**Well, my thought process about the world's superpowers and their 'modern' weapons for this story was; based on how long Russia and the U.S. have been using AK's and M16's (and their variants) it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for the U.S. to be using an M4 or a variant of the weapon in 2056**_


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